Legacy of a Namikaze
by krazyessi
Summary: What if Minato and Kushina survived the Kyuubi attack? What if Sarubtobi Hiruzen died in their place? Did the Uchiha massacre ever happen? Read and discover how the life of Naruto is altered as he starts his life as a Namikaze. He is no longer the 'dobe' that everybody knew but a strong shinobi who will earn the respect he wants as Namikaze Naruto! NaruHina, SasuSaku, and others.
1. The Beginning of Life

**Disclaimer:** I do not in any way own Naruto or anyone else in the manga or anime! Kishimoto owns Naruto and everyone else. I would love to own them but I don't. Since I don't own him, (only in my head), I will have Naruto how I would want him portrayed in my story along with the other characters.

Chapter 1: The Beginning of Life 

The village was quite busy on the weekday. The villagers all have been outside on the sunny bright day, cleaning their shops and their homes. Burst of winds would flow through, relatively beginning the cold fall season. Talks were scattered through every other stands on the streets. One specific person that was walking through the heart of the business was the wife of an influential clan leader.

Uchiha Mikoto was walking down the crowded village street, cradling her new born son. "Aren't you so cute Sasuke?" She cooed tenderly as some of the villagers smiled at the child in her arms adoringly. The clan leader's wife amusedly looked at her son as he stared at her in awe, touching his mother's face. His onyx colored eyes shone with love and devotion.

"What do you mean you don't have any more bananas! Who buys all of them in a day!" yelled a voice that echoed to the Hokage monument causing the birds on the roof top to fly away.

Mikoto giggled at the woman's antics, before glancing where the woman screamed at a merchant who gave the attempt to calm the furious mother-to-be. The fruit seller sent a silent plea to aid to everyone who walked passed while Namikaze Kushina held him by the collar, glaring at him. He had raised his hands, defending himself from any direct hits. He shook from fear, praying to himself that she would walk away with him unharmed.

"Do you have any mangos?" Mikoto asked casually as she walked to them, giving the petrified fruit seller a chance to escape the menacing glare. He cowardly got on all floor, and scurried away to safety. Kushina turned to her friend with a frown and then gave her a smile. "Is that your son?" she asked, curiously gazing at the boy in her arms, all of her angry thoughts disappeared as the boy tentatively stared at her back to her. Her eyes widened as he smiled at her, giggling quietly to himself.

She smiled warmly at her best friend as she adjusted her son in her arms. "Yes. His name is Uchiha Sasuke. He was born on July 23 loving and healthy." Mikoto caringly pulled the blue blanket higher to his chin, adjusting the sides of his shirt as he started blowing little bubbles with his mouth.

"Oh Kami! He has your hair!" Kushina exclaimed, putting her hand on her mouth at the realization she almost scared the young child as his eyes widened. "Sorry" she grinned sheepishly, stepping back from the infant.

Sasuke stirred a little before rubbing his head affectionately to his mother, closing his black eyes. "He's just so cute," Whispered the red- haired friend, taking a few steps closer to the child, peering hesitantly. "Are you ready to have your baby?" Mikoto asked Kushina as she looked at the child passively.

She jumped back startled and pursed her lips, scratching the back of her head nervously while chuckling at her friend. "Mikoto-chan, can I asked you something? I've been thinking about it and you're the only person that I can ask." Kushina spoke, glancing around at the villagers suspiciously as she purposefully avoided the question. She glanced to her left and then to the right, eyeing the villagers that neared them.

"Yes Kushina-chan. What is it?" Mikoto was curious herself wondering what would be making Kushina antsy. She rocked Sasuke side to side, humming a soft lullaby making him fall asleep.

"Does it hurt?" She murmured, with her hand covering her mouth secretively. "What?" She asked, watching as Kushina blush slightly. "Does it hurt when you know … happens?" Kushina questioned embarrassed, rubbing her grown belly that grown to be a habit as she looked away.

Mikoto smiled at her brave friend. Even having the Nine-tail, Kyuubi, sealed inside, she was brave herself; a force to be reckoned with. She wasn't called the Red Hot Habanero of Konoha for nothing, though she feared a humane aspect of life: child birth.

"It is not as bad as they say Kushina-chan. It is actually more of a bonding moment you have with your child. It was like that for me with Itachi and Sasuke. I know for sure I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world." She looked up at the sky, dreamily.

"If you say so but…I just wish that I didn't have to give birth in this cave. I know it's a precaution for the village and all but the village elder is just mean. Homura said I would yell out and scare the whole village. Old elders, they just lost it if you tell me, especially Homura and Koharu." Kushina put a strand of her red hair behind her ear, blankly looking at the ground.

Glancing at her belly in front of her, she beamed. For the past months of her pregnancy, she had put on a brave face for everyone, including her husband. Of course her husband did not notice or perhaps he did and led on that he didn't, however he was more worried about her safety and getting hurt in giving birth. He questioned the elder's choice relentlessly worrying if something were to happen to Kushina, and who would aid her. With her strong personality, she did not want to be scared for both of them. She wanted to be brave for their sake and the sake of the family they were forming. The baby was testing her limits with the endless kicks he did, especially in the night and the amount of food she had to eat to get full.

"Ya know? I'm kind of hungry right now. Hmph. Stupid Minato, making me crave some ramen." She grumbled the last part under her breath. "Mikoto-chan, would you mind getting some ramen with me? This baby is turning to be like Minato every second." She cheered slash complain in the same time. "Just don't tell him that." She commented kicking a small rock on the floor with her shinobi sandals.

Before Mikoto could answer her friend, Sasuke cried out, wailing in her arms. "I'm sorry Kushina-chan. It looks like Sasuke has other things in mind than eating ramen." Kushina tsked, wagging her finger, agreeing with her friend's baby. "I honestly don't like ramen but Minato keeps eating some in office and I think it's affecting me. I have to tell him that when I get home. Bye Mikoto-chan!" Kushina waved energetically, already briskly walking to Ichiraku's in a hurry.

As she neared the stand, she turned around and glanced at the black cat that walked by. She ignored it as she walked in and sat at the stool, patiently waited for Teuchi. She was a little out of breath, a little excited as well, but just took a deep breath in and exhaled. It was little method to calm herself that was recommended by the nurses that knew that Kushina would not stay put to bed.

As she steadying her breath, slurping sounds was heard on the other side of the table, irritating the hungry kunoichi. Her eye twitched as Teuchi came from the back, halting her thought to 'talk' to the person. "Kushina-san! How are you? Where's Minato-dono? You usually don't come here without him." He asked with a caring smile on his face.

Kushina smirked, pointing her thumb back where the Hokage's office would be. "He's still in the office. I thought he would be here, being that it is almost lunch time and he can't stay away." Teuchi smiled at the Hokage's wife in agreement. "So what can I get you today?" Kushina plopped her elbow up, leaning her cheek against her opened palm. "Can I have some miso ramen please?"

"Of course. I'll bring your order." Teuchi wiped his hands on his white apron tied around his waist, heading to the back of his shop.

Just as he left, a little girl with brown hair came out and stopped at the curtain separating the kitchen and behind the counter. Shyly gazing at the big woman she gasped, astonished. The little girl never seen the Hokage's wife face to face, only when the Yondaime had an announcement to the village and she was proudly standing next to him. There were hardly any time that they would go out, only in occasion when took his wife out for a stroll. She stayed, peering what the Hokage's wife did.

Kushina felt someone staring at her and found a little girl standing behind the curtain, admiration in her brown eyes. "Who are you little one?" The red-haired kunoichi smiled at the girl who jumped at the sound of her voice. "My name is Ichiraku Ayame. I-I-It is a pleasure to see you Kushina-san" She bowed lowly before tucking a piece of her shouldered hair behind her ear.

"Psst. No need of bowing, there's no one here. Come and sit with me" Kushina patted the wooden seat next to her eagerly. Ayame complied and stared at her hair peculiarly. There was only so little villagers that have unique hair color, red being an even more rare color.

Kushina caught her staring and looked at her confusedly. "Is there something wrong with it Ayame-chan?" She grabbed her hair, examining it strand by strand. Ayame blushed furiously with a sweat drop on her forehead with the fear of getting caught. "Not at all! I just couldn't help but to look at it. It is just so pretty!" she choked, scared, shivering.

"Oh" Kushina smiled at Ayame, easing the nervousness she felt. She looked at the young girl in question. "So Ayame, do you work here or something?" Kushina asked, thumping her finger tips across the table. The young girl laughed slightly. "No. My dad is Teuchi and I come here and help sometimes."

"Your miso ramen is right here Kushina-san." The man brought the luscious smelling bowl, making Kushina drool slightly with the delicious fragrance. _Oh Kami! It just smells so good! Damn Minato and this yummy ramen!_ She jumped on seat excitedly as he placed the ramen in front of her. She stared at the eggs, the noodles and the little green plant she didn't know what it was called. "Ayame, why are you bothering Kushina-san?" Teuchi frowned slightly as he looked at his daughter. He tried not to glare at his daughter, only hoping that she wasn't disturbing the Hokage's wife.

"Not at all Teuchi-kun. She was keeping me company!" Kushina defended Ayame as she bowed her head slightly in disappointment and shame.

"I would like some beef pork ramen Teuchi-kun. Can I get it quickly, I want to find my wi-" The voice was cut off as the man that ran stared at the red haired woman as she ate her ramen hungrily.

She looked up innocently from her miso ramen as she recognized her husband, smiling chagrin. The blonde haired Hokage smirked at his wife that was hunched over the bowl, her arms around the bowl protectively. He sat next to her, his long white robe hanged behind, the red flames at the end standing out more.

"I'll be right back Hokage-sama. Ayame," Teuchi said, motioning with his head to leave. Ayame smiled in delight as she noticed the way the Hokage beamed at his wife before running to the kitchen.

"Kushina, what are you doing here?" Minato asked, trying not to act smug. Kushina's eyes twitched slightly before she forced a smile. "We were hungry. Well mostly her" Kushina said, with a noodle hanging from the corner of her lip. Minato smirked, and reached to take the noodle away but Kushina slurped it up, smirking back at him.

"What happened to not wanting to eat ramen? You said it would corrupt the baby." Minato blandly said, suppressing a smile. Kushina's eye dangerously continued to twitch, nerving Minato from playing with his wife. "Well _she _was hungry and I couldn't say no to her. That would be rude on her mother's part." She reasoned, raising her chopstick to her mouth. The young Hokage raised his eyebrow amused. "So _he _wanted some ramen?" He concluded smugly, thinking about an early victory.

"You could say that but _she _also did want to have some bananas too, which sold out by the way. So ya know. It was natural that she would want this, to take up under her father." Minato sweat dropped, hoping the fruit seller was in one piece and was not going to complain about Kushina. He cautiously thought on what to say next, approaching the subject on her self-control and came up with nothing.

"I also saw Mikoto-chan today! She had her baby with her. He is so cute! That little Uchiha kid, he looks so much like her! Can't say much about him looking like Fugaku though. " Kushina gushed a little, rubbing her stomach, gazing happily. "You are going to look great with red hair ya know. Your dad is going to be so jealous" She cooed to her belly, smirking slyly.

Minato sat thoughtfully, thinking over what his wife said. _A daughter with red hair that would resemble Kushina, running around the village with other fellow shinobi, her motor mouth, growing up, going to mission, maturing, going through pubert-_ "No Kushina! We will have a boy." Kushina arched her eyebrow, challenging as she ignored his outburst. "Are you scared Minato? Huh? Can't handle a girl?"

Minato smiled a little, being forced. "I'm not scared. I just don't want her team mates and fellow comrades to get any ideas. I suffered a little just being with you and not saying anything. Besides, I don't want to scare half of the village's shinobi her age."

Kushina colored a little, smiling sheepishly as Minato return it with his award winning smile. She sighed happily, placing her head on his shoulder affectionately. "You smell nice" She commented quietly to no one in particular.

He gave a throaty chuckle, putting his arms around her waist. "How was your day? I haven't seen you since the morning." Teuchi came in and silently placed the beef pork ramen on the counter, leaving the married couple alone. "You know, the same. Little kicks here and there with the exception of these cravings. Gosh Minato, I think he's going to be a runner or a taijustsu expert. He keeps kicking me every hour or so. My feet hurt only a little but other than that, I'm doing well." The red-haired kunoichi snuggled closer, closing her eyes tiredly as he rubbed her back in a circular motion.

The blonde Hokage placed one of his hands on her belly, rubbing it a little. "Why are you kicking your mommy so much? Huh? You know she will get you back. Just be a good boy for your mother and make us proud little one." He leaned forward and kissed her bulging stomach and turned to his ramen and ate quickly, wanting to take his wife home to get some rest. Finished with his bowl, he took out his money and laid it on the counter. "Bye Teuchi and Ayame! See you tomorrow." He called before grabbing Kushina in his arms, bridal style.

Kushina turned ten shades of bright red, almost matching her hair. "Minato, wh-wh-what are you doing?" She stuttered slightly, trying to sit up. He smiled sweetly before making her lay in his arms completely. "I'm taking my wife home so she can rest. She turned 10 months and she should be home. You will have our baby soon and it would be better if you were home instead of walking around in the village."

The young female shinobi sighed in defeated, leaning her head on his shoulder. "Are you going to Shunshin to the complex or are you going to scare the village with Hiraishin? I still have laundry to do. Your robes don't wash themselves. Though I could do them later…" Kushina said sleepily as she yawned. Minato blinked in response and agreed with her, deciding to shunshin to the complex instead.

The Namikaze compound was on the other side of the village, in a nice shaded area, surrounded with tall trees and animals. It was like any other's clan's compound with the few exception with one more floor that was used for guests along with the location of his office. With gardens that expanded to forever with flowers from the Yamanka's flower shop with a white wooden gazebo in the center and a bigger training ground, both lived contently. The training ground expanded to the forest giving them more variation of terrain to train in and space for their housing. Though in the back yard, there was a pond with koi fish along with other exotic fish that seem to make the hyper active mother to be calm and relax.

The blonde Hokage shunshined into the compound within seconds, walking through the iron gates. The Namikaze's gate was firmly locked as he walked through. All of the windows were closed, pleasing the Yondaime as he laid his wife in their king sized bed.

"I'll have Team Genma patrol around the compound along with two anbu walking down the hall of this floor. If you are in any kind of pain Kushina, please call over Genma, Raido and Iwashi." He pleaded, quickly covering her with the blankets. "Promise that you won't try to leave or do things around the house. I want both of you to be happy and healthy."

"I promise. I'll just lay her with nothing better to do" Kushina mumbled, staring at the corner of their room. She suppressed another yawn, trying to prove her point. "You can read some of Jiraiya's book" He offered with a small smile. She gave him a side way glanced as her face darkened. Minato chuckled before quickly shunshinning away to his office, a little terrified about the look she gave him.

The kunoichi sighed tiredly, staring off to the distant. _Minato, if only I told you what I feel right now. Something is not right. Something is approaching and I can feel it in my bones._ With that, she closed her eyes and attempted to drift to peaceful slumber.

_Three Hours Later_

A high pitched scream echoed through the huge mansion, almost making the wall vibrate. The messengers hawk in the day sky instantly flew faster, leaving behind a scared Team Genma. Genma stiffened at the sound of the voice. _Kushina-san! _He pulled out his kunai from his pouch for safety and ran into the house.

On the first floor, his other teammates were already running the stairs ahead of him as he quickly raced up to catch up to them. Each of them hand their own look of worry and sacredness. They barged into her room and found her standing beside her bed with her knees bent together with a scared look on her face. "Kushina-san, are you okay?" Genma asked, carefully approaching Kushina.

"Yes, I'm fine! Put that kunai away and get Minato! We need to leave now!" Kushina snapped, waking Raido and Iwashi from their reverie. The two anbu who were walking down the halls quickly entered and stayed at the door, as ordered from the Hokage. She glared at the young two chunins and then glanced at Genma expectantly. Genma nodded his head before putting his kunai in his pouch. "Into position." With that said, the team got into formation and formed the seals together perfectly, leaving the Hokage's wife alone in her bedroom.

**Are you going to continue to yell? **The Kyuubi asked dryly. **I have not spoken to you for quite a long time now and when I do speak to you, I don't want to hear you scream! If not, I'll bite your head off.** He warned, growling deeply in her mind.

Kushina closed her eyes and connected with the Kyuubi in her mindscape. She appeared in front of his large cage with the seal protected in the front. He was chained behind giant bars infused with her chakra along with the one who sealed him in the first time. His bright red eyes looked at her hungrily as he was restraining himself from pouncing at her and kill her, knowing if he did, he would die along with her.

"What do you want?" She asked annoyed, trying to not let her voice tremble at the mere thought of heading to the cave and going to labor soon. Another contraction came, making her want to whimper but she squared her shoulder, glaring at him.

**You huma-** He began to speak before Kushina cut him off.

"Listen Kyuubi. I'm about to have to my baby and I don't have time for you to be pestering me with your questions or worries or whatever you want. Stay put and don't bother me until I come." She angrily left him with his eyebrow up. She opened her eyes, taking notice of the two anbu Minato mentioned outside the door who hid themselves inside the walls. She sighed tiredly, trying to calm herself. She didn't want her nerves to get the best of her as a contraction began.

About to take a seat on her bed, Minato appeared in a flash with his hair looking tousled. His face was flushed and a huge smile in his face. He went to the drawers and pulled out a black traveler back full with basic essentials. He went over to Kushina and grabbed her small delicate hands into his and held them up. "Are you ready Kushina?" She looked up to him and returned his smile with one of her own. With a deep breath, she nodded her head as they were teleported to the cave.

"Please be careful as I lead you into the cave. Jiraiya is going to be here shortly after we make sure everything is in order." Minato said, guiding her through the cave with a flashlight illuminating their way. "Is he with Sarutobi?" Kushina questioned as she tried to catch up with her husband, breathing in and out as instructed by her doctor.

He nodded. As they walked further through the cave, light streamed through revealing two medics in their formal white uniform. She stopped and looked at them with suspicion. "Don't worry Kushina. They are here for our baby. There's some shinobi on guard outside of the cave to keep everyone away. It's going to be alright." He assured her, kissing her forehead lightly.

"Please Kushina-san, lay on the bed and we'll get everything ready." One medic spoke, giving her a warm smile. She smiled and complied as she sat on the bed looking around.

Uchiha Fugaku smiled proudly at his son, Sasuke. The small blacked haired boy sat on the floor, surrounded with plastic foamed kunai and shurikens. He sat slouching on the floor with a bottle of formula. Fugaku kneeled in front of his three month son, and handed him a shuriken and gently took his bottle away. "Here Sasuke, play with the skuriken." He cooed ever so slightly if you could say that he cooed or smiled at all. The small boy grabbed the foamed shuriken and placed it in his mouth, chewing slightly.

He smirked at his son as he stood straight. "Itachi" he called out. He stood facing the stairs, and watched his younger son with his arms crossed. Itachi came from downstairs, smiling a little at his brother. He was dressed in his anbu uniform, mask in hand. He wore long black pants that went to his ankle and ninja sandals with spikes underneath. Minus a grey chest armor that usually went over his short sleeved black shirt that had a high collar, he wore his metal guards with his gloves. He quickly placed his mask in one of his pouches and glanced up to his father with a small frown.

"Take care of your younger brother. Your mother is back at the office and I have to leave for a clan meeting. " He ordered proudly, and jumped out of the house before Itachi could answer with a yes or a no.

The young prodigy looked down at his younger brother who stared at him innocently. "What am I going to do with you?" He asked a loud, sitting on the floor next to him.

Sasuke instantly crawled closer to Itachi, climbing over his leg. "Ba ba" He said, blowing little bubbles in his face. Itachi smiled and grabbed Sasuke, sitting him on his lap properly and reached for a toy car that was scattered around them. "Here Sasuke." He handed him the toy. He looked at it with curiosity and then threw it on the flooring, crying and startling his older brother.

Itachi quickly stood up with Sasuke in his arms. Sasuke continued to cry as he tried to calm him, rubbing his back in an assuring matter. "What's wrong Sasuke?" He frowned at him as he continued to wail. He carefully bent over and picked up the bottle of formula and placed them in Sasuke's opened hand which he gladly took, quickly putting the bottle in his mouth.

He wrapped his arm around his younger brother protectively as he rocked him slightly. "Don't worry Sasuke. I promise that I'm going to protect you from everything and everyone." He spoke with such certainly, staring at the door expectantly.

"Just keep pushing Kushina. She is almost out." Minato motivated her, squeezing her hand. Kushina looked at him and smiled before grunting as she continued to push more. With his free hand, he wiped away beads of sweat from Kushina's forehead. She looked at Minato surprised and a look of new determination formed. Minato kept his hands over her seal as she kept pushing. Minato was surprise on how much the nine-tails kept trying to escape, being really strong.

"We see the hair of the child. Keep pushing Kushina-san. One more big push." The medic advised, giving them a small smile as she sat at the end of the medical bed. "Am I too late?" Jiraiya asked, running toward the side of the bed in a grey blur.

"Aahh!" Kushina yelled at the top of her lungs, startling both Minato and the man that rushed in. She stopped screaming at the sound of a child crying out. She lifted her head and saw blonde hair. "It's a beautiful healthy boy! Hokage-sama, Kushina-san." The medic said warmly, walking to the other medic with glasses to clean the baby. Minato gazed at her Kushina full with emotion; his blue eyes were full with tears in the brim of his eyes as he met her blue electric eyes. He wiped them away, laughing to himself. "Hehe, I'm a father." He bent over and planted a light kiss on her lips, and pulled away.

Kushina beamed at him and wiped a tear away from her face. "He has your blonde hair Minato." Jiraiya chuckled loudly, trying not to tear up in front of the Namikaze couple. He composed himself and looked at his former student. "Are you going to name him like you mentioned before?" He asked, smiling at Kushina that looked at him confused. "What is he talking about?"

"In Jiraiya-sensei first book, he wrote about a young man that never gave up. He had plenty of courage and had a habit to change the people he encountered. His determination was undying and strong. His name was Naruto." Minato explained, placing strands of her hair away from her face.

"I don't know Minato-sama. I just came up with the name over some ramen." Jiraiya explained sheepishly, scratching his head. "I like that name. Namikaze Naruto." Kushina said, stretching her neck to look where the medic was holding her son and gasped in horror. _Naruto!_ She screamed mentally, trying to gather strength to lift herself.

All of them looked were she was staring and froze. A man with a ceramic masked turned to them expectantly, one hole only visible. The mask was orange and with a black spiral around the hole that only led out the view of an eye. A black long coat was on his shoulder, with a high collar. On the floor, both medics laid on the floor with a kunai stuck in their chest.

Minato narrowed his eyes as he glared at the man. "How did you get in? This place was surrounded with high leveled anbu as guards. They were given specific orders by the Hokage to not let anyone in or out, and to get rid of the intruders from entering." Jiraiya spoke, stepping forward slightly, covering Minato's hands that went through signing.

Jiraiya stepped aside as Minato threw a kunai directly at the man with the orange mask. "Hiraishin no Jutsu!" He yelled, finishing the last sign. A yellow flashed flew toward the unknown man and back to where Jiraiya stood his respectable taijustsu stance.

"Naruto!" Kushina yelled, jumping off the bed and winced slightly. "Kushina stay on the bed! You are not able to fight. Jiraiya come with me." Jiraiya quickly went to Minato. Once he was within range, Minato Hiraishined to the Namikaze complex.

Into the main bedroom, Minato handed Naruto to Jiraiya. "Jiraiya-sensei, stay here and take care of Naruto and that is an order" He added as Jiraiya was going to interrupt. "Team Genma should still be here, so find them and stay near them. If there's any threat, they should be able to Hiraishin you both to safety." With all said, Konoha's Yellow Flash disappeared to the secluded cave far off from the village.

As he appeared in the cave, water dripped in the far right corner. He looked around and found the cave empty, Kushina nowhere to be seen. The bed where she laid out showed signed of distress. Minato led out an exasperated sigh. _Kushina, where are you? This was not supposed to happen on our son's birthday. How am I supposed to find you? _He thought over and smiled at an idea that surfaced. "Your seal." He mumbled as he remembered that he could teleport to where she was because Hiraishin was sealed with the Four Symbol Seal, a security measure. He quickly left in the hope to find his wife.

Jiraiya continued to rock Naruto in his arms as he cried aloud. _What am I doing? I am one of the Legendary Sanin! I should be fighting alongside with Minato-sama._ "Kid, why are you crying?" Jiraiya asked the new born baby. The infant was slightly pink from all the crying he was doing, causing Jiraiya get a headache in the process. _You are so loud like your mother. I hope you did not inherit that trait from her and that this is just a phase._

The Toad Sage walked around the room, attempting to calm the child with no luck._ Minato is going to have to forgive but I will not have one of my students die while I stay as a baby sitter. I'm not one of the Legendary Sanin for nothing!_ With his mind made up, Jiraiya called out to Team Genma who hurriedly came to the room. "Take care of Naruto-kun. If anything seems wrong or out of the ordinary, Hiraishin to Anbu office and send for backup." He ordered quickly thinking over the detail of the mysterious masked man.

"Hai!" They said together as Jiraiya handed Naruto bundled in with blankets to Raido. The Toad Sage hastily jumped out of the third floor of the complex and ran to Konoha. _ Minato-sama and Kushina-chan might be in trouble. Defeating all of the anbu is one thing but being able to kill Biwako is a whole other issue. If I read his chakra correctly, the only person that could provide help would be Hiruzen-sensei. _

The Toad Sage pumped more chakra into his feet, increasing his speed as he raced to his sensei's home. "Hiruzen-sensei!" Jiraiya yelled out, running through the home. The former Hokage looked at his old student nervously while he panted, catching his breath. "The Kyuubi" He uttered as the old man widening his eyes in surprised, dropping his pipe on the floor. He quickly ran to the phone and called ANBU Black Ops and came back to the living room. With a silent nod, both men ran to the cave where Kushina was when she gave birth.

At the entrance of the cave, few anbus laid on the ground dead except for a few who were able to destroy their bodies. Near the main door, Biwako's body was still on the floor, pale with blood dripping from the corner of her mouth. "Biwako-chan!" Hiruzen yelled out as he recognized his wife's lifeless body.

"I'm truly sorry about Biwako-san but we need to find Minato and Kushina. The masked man must of have led them out to the forest." Jiraiya spoke, worrying about his former student.

Hiruzen narrowed his eyes in concentration. "That chakra. It's so menacing and evil. It must be the Kyuubi. He must have escaped from Kushina-chan." He said as he looked at the entrance of the cave. "Before we leave, we need to have a plan Jiraiya. We can't just run into a battle blindly, we would be any help neither of them. I'm not sure if Kushina even survived the extraction."

Minato landed in a clearing in the forest and he quickly scouted for his wife. Sensing her chakra, he ran after where she was. As he approach, he noticed the sign the masked man was conducting. _It's an extraction jutsu! He is going to release the Nine-Tailed and it will attack the village!_

He finished the last signed and placed his hand on Kushina as she was lying on the floor unconscious. Suddenly red chakra emerged from her small body and turned to the form of the Kyuubi. The head first formed with the pointed ear, the snot growing with the long sharp teeth that resembled like a snakes fangs. The body came secondly while the tails took a longer time to emerge, getting larger and thicker if it actually had fur flaring out in the sky. The menacing chakra continued to grow as the figured that looked transparent turned more solid. Once it was completely done, the Kyuubi growled as he glared at Minato.

The Yondaime performed the summoning jutsu, drawing blood from his thumb and slammed his palm to the floor. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" Gamabunta appeared under Minato as he rose in the air while he crouched. "Gamabunta-san, I will need your assistance to help me keep that shinobi and the Kyuubi distracted as I figure a way to get the biju away from the masked man's control."

"Don't worry about it Minato-sama. I'll keep this guy busy. Suiton: Teppodama!" Gamabunta yelled, a giant form of water ball, the size of cannon balls struck the Kyuubi in the torso. The Kyuubi snarled in pain and quickly swiped one of his tails causing powerful shockwaves to radiate from the speed of the tails. Gamabunta quickly got Minato with his tongue and leaped in the air, avoiding most of the waves.

Taking advantage being up I the air, Minato quickly summersaulted away from Gamabunta's tongue and landed near Kushina. He arrived at her side as she let out a ragged breath. He paused as she woke. He gently picked her up in his arms and Hiraishin to the complex once again.

He looked around and found Jiraiya nowhere to be to found. "Jiraiya-sensei!" He called out, as he placed Kushina on the bed. "Naruto" Mumbled Kushina, weakly lifting her head. Minato took out a food pill and put it under her tongue. "He's here Kushina. Do not worry." Minato was completely serious, glancing around his house with the hope of finding his son without having to leave his wife's unless it was necessary.

As the Fourth was about to go check every room, Team Genma came, holding Naruto in a pale white blanket. "Hokage-sama, here's Naruto-kun. Jiraiya-san said to take care of him and go to ANBU office in case of danger." Iwashi spoke, stepping forward shaking under the intense look of the Hokage.

Minato smiled grimly, and took Naruto from Raido. "Kushina, here's Naruto." He walked over to her side and placed him in Kushina's expectant arms. Kushina instantly smiled and cradled her son adoringly. With her son finally in her arms, she let out the tears she held in, her eyes turning red. She sniffled a little before whispering her son's name several time to herself.

"Team, your job is stay here and guard Kushina-chan with our child. Get the anbu outside the door and order for backup and medic nins. She's going to need medical attention. No matter what Kushina says or wants, do not in any circumstances let her out of the room. Closely watch her and make sure she is stabilized." The team nodded and stood in formation. With a quick glance at Kushina with their child, Minato left with some relief.

In the forest, dozens of trees were on fire, a crater on the floor that went several feet deep. Gamabunta was holding off the Nine-Tailed as it attempted to use a fireball straight toward him. The masked man ran in front of Minato, closing the distance and engaged him in taijustsu. He threw punches, kicks and combos, each of them being deflected even the strong roadhouse kick. Minato swiftly dodge a kick to the head and jumped back, throwing shurikens at his vital points which he dodged gracefully. He looked at the slit of the mask and saw the Sharingan as he dodged a kunai to his shoulder. His feet dug deep into the ground as he flew back on impact.

_Is it Uchiha Madara? Was he not dead? He is the only one with that much hate against the village and that has the Sharingan to do something like this. _"Is it you Madara?" Minato asked, prepared for the worse. 

The masked man chuckled madly at the Fourth, throwing his head back. "What makes you ask that?" he asked amusedly. Minato didn't answer as he analyzed his opponent. "Are you going to be silent now?" Minato ignored him and slowly took out his special kunai from his side pouch that was concealed by his white coat, avoiding being obvious with his movement.

"That's fine with me. I'll talk for the both of us. Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" 'Madara' signed as a duplicate appeared beside them. "Now, what will you do?" One of them charged toward Minato and jumped away at the last minute as the other called out. "Shi no kumi no Jutsu!" Minato instantly froze with his kunai at hand as he stared at the masked shinobi; he prepared to do Hiraishin but was caught in a genjutsu and the moment to critically analyze his opponent. He overestimated the capability of the shinobi. When caught in close combat, he was struck with familiarity of the taijustsu used by the Uchiha. He dropped to his knee as he saw Nine-Tailed smiling viciously at him. In his larges hands were Kushina holding Naruto as she yelled out to him to help. His claws were deep into her skin, blooding dripping off the torn dress she wore. The Kyuubi tightened his grip until both went limp. He threw the bodies away like they were like rag doll and leaped toward him, a giant fireball flying from his mouth. **Is this not what you wanted Fourth? **He mocked, his red eyes glinting from laughter and malevolent.

Minato shook his head, knowing that it was a genjutsu. _Kushina is back home with Naruto. He just caught me off guard. I need to start getting serious with him if he truly is Madara._ Minato quickly performed kai and broke from the Genjutsu as 'Madara' threw a fireball at defensive-less Hokage. "Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu"

"Fuuton: Shinkha!" Minato took a deep breath and started to spin around in an incredible speed, exhaling a large blade of wind covering him from the large fire ball. It ignited the fireball at first then it sliced through the fire ball, dying out in the air with the inconceivable speed. The large blade of air raced toward the masked shinobi, the wind hitting his body. "It seems like you are worthy of being Hokage after all." He stood forward with both arms crossed in front, taking the attack full on; his one eye closing slightly as if he were smiling.

"Fuuton: Furyuu no Jutsu!" Minato called out, not wanting the opponent to retaliate with his own jutsu. A large dragon appeared in the form of wind, large and similar to the traditional Chinese dragon. It was twenty feet long and stood about seven feet in height with a red mane and the body in a light blue color. The dragon quickly gathered air particle into his mouth and breathed out, directly hitting the disguised adversary of 'Madara', knocking him off his feet as he attempted to block the attack with his own jutsu which failed miserably.

Minato led out a breath of relief and dispelled the jutsu, causing the dragon to explode, sending a big wind current in a 360 degree radius, making 'Madara' fly 30 meters away, crashing on a tree trunk with a big _Thunk!_ With no time to waste, he threw his special kunai at the masked man to the abdomen. Forming a Rasengan in his right hand, he teleported directly in front of 'Madara' catching the special kunai in his hands and blasted him in the stomach. Secretively, he placed a special paper seal on his back, taking control away from the biju. 'Madara' stayed at the trunk as his body was covered with his own blood bursting with his gaping wound.

Minato who did not shed a drop of blood remembered about Gamabunta and looked at him, hopping that he didn't need help. Gamabunta had his Tanto in hand, attempting to cut off one of the Kyuubi's tails. His thoughts went to the villagers, hoping that the shinobi did not try to fight the tailed beast. Seeing Gamabunta handling the biju, he returned his attention to his opponent that was hunched over. He fell on his stomach, coughing blood on the floor, twitching from the pain coursing through his body.

"Doton: Yomi Numa!" Yelled out a voice, that was near the burning trees at the side of the Kyuubi. Jiraiya stood with Hiruzen as he performed his jutsu correctly. The green grass quickly turned to wet lumps of mud, water quickly appearing and changing the texture of the ground. Underneath the biju, the mud began to go to the Kyuubi's feet, engulfing his legs as it growled in rage.

"Careful! He just lost all control of the Kyuubi! Now it won't be holding back!" Minato yelled, warning them. "Minato! Go help Jiraiya with the Kyuubi. Both of you would be able to hold him back and restrain him from attacking the village. I'll take care of him." Hiruzen motioned to the masked intruder.

Complying, Minato went to where Jiraiya was holding off the Kyuubi as Gamabunta threw his water cannon balls at the Kyuubi. "We need to find something to seal him away into! It's the only way to defeat him! None of our attacks are damaging him!" Jiraiya suggested as he threw a gust of water from his mouth. The Kyuubi slowly began sinking into the swamp like substance as he fought going in deeper to the endless pit. **You retched humans! You will pay! **He roared, flicking his tail to the side. Jiraiya and Minato pumped chakra on the soles of their feet, fighting from flying away.

_Being Hokage come with responsibility and sacrifices. The only person that would be able to survive the sealing would be an Uzumaki. We can't seal it back into Kushina because it would be a great strain on her from the extraction. If she can only forgive me but we need to seal him to Naruto, to save the village. _

"Minato!" Called out a familiar voice. He glanced over and saw Kushina running to Jiraiya. "Before you can say anything Minato, he is my son too and I want to protect the village where he lives with and everyone we care for. It would be foolish if I didn't help." Kushina had her hair in a high pony tail, her shinobi headband tied on her forehead tightly. Underneath her dress, she wore black tights for mobility, her blue shinobi sandals and her pouches with scrolls and weapons.

Minato sighed sadly and went over to them. "I have a plan to stop the Kyuubi from attacking the village. Kushina, I'm sorry for saying this but we will need to seal it into Naruto. He is the only one who would survive the process. I'm going to ask you to do use your Chakra Chains to restrain him as I perform the sealing." Fear entered Kushina's blue eyes but nodded understandingly. She ran toward to the Kyuubi who was managing to escape the wrath of Jiraiya's jutsu and performed her own. "Chakra Chain!" She yelled as large chain came from her stomach. Shackles grabbed the Kyuubi's wrist and ankles, pulling him down to the ground. Another giant chain later came and went to his snout, keeping him from throwing any fireballs and restrained him closer to the ground. Blue chakra ran through the chains, weakening the Kyuubi as it fought back.

"Go Minato! Jiraiya, release your jutsu." She commanded as she gritted her teeth in determination, going through several more signs. Jiraiya dispelled his jutsu and dismissed Gamabunta as well, keeping him from danger. "Chakra Chain Barricade!" She intoned, as chakra infused wall came around them, surrounding everyone in combat. The walls erected from the ground that rose far above from the Kyuubi, separating them farther away from the village. Fellow shinobi that was in range of sight cursed madly as the wall kept them away from the on-going battle. The Kyuubi who saw the barrier snarled, his red eyes darkening as looked over every shinobi present.

Minato appeared within the barrier with his son is his arms, looking a bit grim. He unwrapped Naruto from the blanket and laid him on it, on the ground. "Jiraiya, help Minato! He might not have enough chakra to finish!" Kushina began to struggle as the Kyuubi began fighting back, pulling away from the chains with his incredible strength. The chains clinked together, rustling in mid-air. The chain that kept his mouth closed cracked as he snapped his jaw open. An enormous fireball flew toward the three of them. The Kyuubi laughed in delight, smirking at the sudden chaos. "No!" Kushina roared, attempting to run after them, to stop the fireball.

"Doton: Doryuheki!" Hiruzen ran fast as possible and stood straight in front of his defensive mud barrier he spitted out, protecting Jiraiya, Minato and his son. The fireball with chakra blasted him full on, engulfing his clothes in flames as well as his body. He doubled over and coughed out some blood, dropping to his knees. Kushina's eyes turned to saucers and she turned to glare at the Kyuubi.

She let out a final battle cry and two more chains infused with her chakra emerged out of the ground with more chakra infused about twice as before, both around the Kyuubi's mouth and body dragging him to the ground.

Jiraiya hurriedly summoned the ceremonial throne underneath them, fighting exhaustion at both times. Once the throne was summoned, he lit all the candles in the circle, on top of ancient seals and together performed the correct hand seal with his former student. "Eight Trigram Style! " Jiraiya and Minato yelled in unison, placing their hands on Naruto's belly.

The chains holding down the Nine-Tail slowly pulled away and disappeared back into Kushina. The Kyuubi began to shrink in size; streams of chakra flew into Naruto's belly until the nine-tailed biju disappeared from the forest, leaving only the remains of the destruction. The trees were all scorched to the ground along with a great crater in the forest.

Low on chakra, Kushina fell to her knees and let out a sigh of exhaustion. She crawled to Naruto was and held him closely to her, tears streaming down to her face openly as she looked at Sarutobi Hiruzen's body.

Minato kneeled at the side of the retired Hokage as he mumbled incoherent words. "What is it you want to say Hiruzen-san?" Minato asked. He held Hiruzen's head in his hands, lifting his head to hear him better. "That man that came…" Hiruzen began, his breathing becoming farther apart, his eyes closed slightly. "The masked man said that he was…" he didn't finished his sentence as his final breath left his mouth.

Jiraiya looked at his sensei in surprise, widening his eyes. Tears began falling from his face as he cried silently, wiping the tears away with his sleeve. They all bowed their head, silently praying to the Gods. "Thank you Hiruzen-sama." Kushina said respectively, sniffling.


	2. The End of the Academy Days

Chapter 2: The End of the Academy Days 

**Twelve Years Later**

A silent breeze flowed through the calm village of Konohagakure, also known as the Hidden Leaf Village of Land of Fire. The tree branches swayed with the complimenting weather, causing the villagers to smile as they went on with their business. The sun shone brightly, smiling down at the busy village. Bright and early this morning, the village streets began to get crowded as parents of young shinobi took their children to the academy. Some of the older shinobi jumped on the rooftop on their way to train or to receive a mission from the Hokage, several would smile at the nervous academy students before heading off.

One red head mother fought hard as she tried getting her son out of bed. She knocked on his door angrily. "Naruto! Come out of bed!" Silence, no response. "Naruto! If you don't open this door this instant, then the door will be gone. One, two… three!" She kicked the door down with one swift movement, smirking as the door hanged from its hinges. She dusted her tan dress, and listened quietly for her son.

She walked in to her son's messy room and inwardly sighed. _You are picking up too many bad habits! Once you get home from the academy…. _The threat continued in her head. She went to the bed and began folding the pile of clothes at the foot of the bed. She stopped short as she noticed there was nobody underneath the blanket. She lifted the blanket in the air and nobody was there underneath, as she suspected.

She narrowed her eyes and looked at the door. "Kiyomi!" She yelled out again as a girl with blonde wavy hair ran inside. She wore a blue dress that went to her knees, similar in design of her mother's. It had thick straps and was fitted nicely with a matching undershirt. Instead of having a longed sleeved shirt like her mother wore underneath, she wore a netted shirt. She wore matching blue sandals with a black hairband pulling her hair back. "Yes okaasan?" She asked, with a hint of surprise being called to this room again. She scrunched her nose in disgust, trying not to stick her tongue out from the smell of sweat. Her eyes scanned the room and she noticed empty cups of instant ramen and she grinned quietly.

Kushina placed her hands on her hip and stared at her daughter expectantly. Kiyomi smiled innocently, putting her hands on her back. "Where's your brother?" Kiyomi blinked, giving her mother a look of confusion. "Nani? I don't know. I thought he went to the academy already."

Kushina stared down at her daughter before jumping out the window gracefully, breaking down in a run. Kiyomi ran to the window and saw a red blur head for the village. "Ani, you better not get caught. Okaasan is going to kill you and father can't do anything to save you." She laughed to herself, skipping out to the living room.

A blonde haired boy stood on top on the Hokage monument, smiling happily to himself with his hands at his waist, admiring his work. _Hehe! You are going to be proud __okaasan! Not even you came up with this great prank! This will put all of them to shame! _

The blonde haired boy placed his paint brush inside the paint can and heard the sound of someone approaching. He jumped on the stair's rail and slid down the flight of stairs, laughing aloud. "Woo! This is so much fun! Dattebayo!" He threw a fist in the air, causing him to lose his balance as he promptly fell to the ground, head first.

"Naruto-kun! Come back here right now!" An anbu yelled with some other chunins behind, running to catch up. Naruto quickly jumped on his feet and put his orange goggles on his eyes. He looked back and almost jumped out of his skin. _Crap! They seem so fast! Too bad they are not going to catch me!_ He left himself undusted and ran the closest houses.

He jumped on top of the roof and jumped house to house, avoiding to get caught. "Is that all you got? Come one! I thought this was going to be fun! Just give it up!" He laughed, grinning ear to ear.

"Stop Naruto-kun!" A female chunin cried out as she tried to gain momentum. She stumbled a little as she landed awkwardly on the roof of a small house, causing her lose some distance. She smiled to herself, enjoying the little chase along with the fellow shinobi. Most thought it was funny that the Hokage's son could be such a trouble maker.

Naruto looked back and involuntarily shivered from terror. A red blur was heading after him, closing the distance between the both of them quickly. "Naruto!" She called out, scaring the other pursuant making them leave. He sighed as he stopped running. He held his breath as he waited for her to speak. Slowly, he turned around to face his mom, thinking over some excuses to tell her. They both jumped down from the roof and stood patiently. Neither of them wanted to back down as they stared at each other, waiting for one of them to make a move.

An evil smile came on her face as her stormy sapphire eyes watched him. "Naruto, what were you doing?" She spoke in a normal voice, sending s chill down his spine. He opened his mouth and then closed it. "You must have done something to get chased by shinobi." She crossed her arms and pressed her lips tightly.

Naruto scratched the back of his head nervously. He chuckled quietly. "Did imouto tell you something?" He kicked some of the loose pebbles on the ground. Kushina cocked her head to her side, waiting for him to continue. He led out his breath he was holding. "The Hokage Monument looks nice today."

Kushina squinted her eyes at her son and then looked back. Saying she was surprise would be a lie; however she didn't expect he would do something like this. She doubled over, slapping her hand on her knee as she laughed. A tear slid down from her check as her laughed continued to get louder and louder. The corner of Naruto's lip twitched before he laughed along with his mother.

The Hokage Monument where the faces of each Hokage were held each had paint all over. The Shodai Hokage had big red lips that hanged to his chin. His eyebrows were narrowed as it looked down on the village with leaves in his hair. He had a green scar across his cheek, big and large. The Nidaime Hokage had green bulging eyes with a double chin. Dark red paint was dripping from his nose with a slight blush on his cheek. The Sandaime Hokage had a major nose bleed that went all the way to his beard. He had a creepy pervy smile that everyone knew of. The Yondaime Hokage had vibrant red hair with two streaks of blonde hair.

"Your dad doesn't look that bad with red hair. It kind of suits him." Kushina said, sobering up. Naruto beamed with the compliment. "What about me okaasan? Wouldn't I look great with red hair?" Naruto asked, running his hand through his hair and struck a pose with him giving a thumb up and a daring smile. His eyes shined and a sparkle on his teeth, his best guy pose.

An anime sweat appeared at the corner of her head as she gave a small smile. "Eh. Only I can have such great hair." She flipped her hair, exaggerating slightly. "Come on, we have to get to the academy. Wouldn't it be sad if you could be genin just because you were late?" Naruto frowned at that and nodded energetically. "Let's go." She reached for his hand and ran with him to the academy.

"Not too fast kaasan! I can't keep up!" Naruto said as they both flew from the village. Some of the villagers laughed at them and shook their head. Naruto's leg didn't even touch the ground as she dashed down the street; they seemed to be at her side as they dashed through everywhere. "Whose fault was it to go to the monument? Let's go slow poke."

Naruto pressed on his heel to stop while he laughed, ignoring the pain it caused him to stop at such speed. Kushina stopped and looked at Naruto. "What's so funny? Huh?" She asked, wondering if something was wrong with him. Naruto pointed behind him. "The academy is back at the monument. We just passed it mom! Don't you know where it is?"

It was Kushina's turn to scratch the back of her head. She smiled sheepishly at her son and blushed. "I knew that! I was just checking on her scouting technique, if you can differentiate your surrounding while in a sprint! We wouldn't have you as a genin if you did not know where you are going!" She said energetically.

_A sprint? I couldn't even touch the ground! Kaa-san is very scary, that's for sure!Believe it!_

Naruto stood there thinking it over. "Oh." He commented and looked at his mother proudly. "I aced that written exam yesterday! Today I'll pass and be genin in no time! The hands on exam will be a piece of cake! Dattebayo!" Naruto grinned, putting both of his hands back in a relaxing demeanor.

Kushina smiled at him and silently walked to the academy. She put her arms around his shoulder and kissed the side of his head. Naruto gave her sideway glanced and grinned cheekily, giggling happily.

Walking down the silent hall, the sound of Iruka talking was heard. Both of them were nervous, sweating bullets the more they neared. Naruto slammed the door opened and stood at the entrance with his mom behind. Her eyes twitched. _Yup, enter class in a big production! That will help. _She thought sarcastically. _It'll get you more in trouble!_

Iruka turned to where the door opened and sighed. "You're late." He closed his book and looked at both of them in disapproval. "Ask kaasan." Naruto gave an evil smile as he looked at his mom. He wanted to take the heat of himself and watch as his mother took care of business.

Kushina smiled forcefully. "Well…. Um…. We were ugh…Later! I have to be in the Hokage's office! You better not be late for dinner Naruto!" She warned as she shunshin from a scolding. A spiral of wind was left behind, leaves falling gracefully to the ground. A chorus of giggles was heard in the background with several awes and hearts floating to where Naruto's mom was. Naruto glared at the boys staring at his mother and then looked back at his sensei.

Iruka raised an eyebrow expectantly. "Well… I was with kaasan and we were… um…" Iruka shook his head. "Go have a seat Naruto. Being late is not a good thing to do. When on a mission, it is crucial to arrive on time or before. The successfulness of the mission depends on your commitment and being physically there." He lectured.

The class snickered as he lazily made his way to a seat. Some of his female classmate stood up and ran toward him. "Oh Naruto-kun! Sit with me!" "Sit with me!" "I have a seat with your name on it!" "No! Sit with me!" "She's too ugly to be with you! Sit with me" "Naruto-kun!" Raged the girls, hearts filled their eyes. Naruto took a deep breath and looked at the ceiling in desperation.

"Sasuke-kun! Don't be near those kinds of girls! They don't admire how great you are!" a civilian girl spoke, blowing a kiss to a boy with black raven hair in the shape of a duck's butt. He wore a high collared blue shirt with sleeves that were on his wrist to his elbow, matching with his white short and blue shinobi sandals. A girl with long blonde hair cast a look at a pinked haired girl. Both of their faces darkened as the raced toward the black haired boy at the same time.

"Sasuke-kun is mine Ino-pig! Hands off!" The pink haired girl yelled, attempting to sit next on the empty seat.

_I have to talk to oniisan about it. Kaasan said that he had fan girls too. Maybe he can tell me how to get rid of them once we train. I'm not even sure if any of them are serious of becoming a ninja anyhow. _ Sasuke thought to himself as he stared at the corner of the room.

"Shove it billboard-brow! You and your big forehead will scare him off!" Ino raised her fist at her. "Just like your butt! Move it!" Iruka tried to walk into the group of girls and was carried off. "Class!"

Naruto looked at the girl with pink hair and smiled. He jumped in front of the blacked hair boy's desk and glared at him. "Sakura-chan! Why do you like Sasuke-teme?" he crouched down and glared at his black eyes. Sasuke returned the glare and stayed there in a staring contest. "He's strong and smart. So what! I'm strong and smart too!"

"Naruto! Don't look at Sasuke-kun like that!" The girls screamed outraged. Other girls chorused with agreement and threats. Naruto looked at them and stuck his tongue out, taunting them.

A civilian boy in front of the of Naruto and Sasuke pushed his chair back and hit Naruto from behind. He fell forward and his face landed on top of Sasuke. Both of their eyes turned wide in shock. The lips were touching. They simultaneously looked down and pulled away from their kiss. "Oopss." The civilian boy said non-apologetically. Naruto stuck his tongue out and wiped on it furiously.

"Oh Kami! Eww!" He yelled, turning red. Sasuke grunted and did the same, both of them glaring at each other in the process. The male classmates laughed aloud, pointing and grinning.

"Aahh! You stole Naruto's first kiss!" Naruto's fan girls cried, shooting daggers at the boy. One of them fainted, falling to the ground. Sasuke's fan girls gasped and glared at girls who worriedly gazed at Naruto. "Naruto! I was supposed to be Sasuke's first kiss!" Sakura roared. Inner Sakura inside cursed silently. **_Cha! Punch him in his nose! It'll serve him right! Sasuke is ours! I should make him bleed for him being such a baka! I'm the only girl for Sasuke-kun._**Flames burned in both of their eyes as they looked up in determination.

Naruto raised his fist for a punch aimed at Sasuke, but Iruka put two fingers in his mouth and whistle loudly. A boy with a white puppy whimpered in pain. "Iruka-sensei! That hurts!" The boy covered his ear with the hood of his jacket. The white pup put its paw on its ears, trying to block out the sound as well as it howled.

"Sorry Kiba, it was the only way to get their attention. Now class! Line up against the wall! I'll happily make a sitting chart for today and tomorrow." The class quieted down as they raced to the wall.

"But Iruka-sensei!" Naruto whined. "It wasn-"

"No buts Naruto. Now, boys, I want you all to sit in the half of the class room closer to the window. Sit alphabetical order but Naruto, go sit behind Sasuke so I can keep an eye on both of you. Girls, go sit at the half of the room by the door in alphabetical order as well. No talking or I'll make you sit in boy girl boy girl order and clean up the black board of every classroom." He threatened with a cheerful smile. His class mumbled under their breath as they moved around the room. He clapped his hands, scaring his students. "Now we can start class. Also, don't forget about the exams after recess." He walked to his desk and picked up his text book for review. "Now on page 73…"

The Hokage sat in his chair, viewing over some of the documents the elders gave him earlier this morning. He sighed and looked out of the window in his office. The view of the village brought a smile on his face. He leaned back of his chair and placed his foot the window frame, watching the villagers go about on the day, reminiscing about a young boy.

_Flashback_

A knock came to the door, startling the Hokage as he ate his instant ramen. He wasn't able to go get lunch as he was busy distributing missions to teams and he had an important meeting with the clans' leaders, not sparing anytime for the Hokage to have lunch with his wife. He cleared his throat and hid the cup in case it was his wife checking up on him. "Come in." An anbu came in his full attire. He wore long black pants that went to his ankle and ninja sandals. A gray chest armor was over his short sleeved black shirt with a high collar along with his metal guards and his gloves. His raven mask covered his face, concealing his identity.

"Raven-san. What brings you here? Do you want a mission?" Minato asked seriously, appalled with his sudden appearance. Raven was talked about always coming early in the morning to retrieve missions as well of doing his mission such great speed and success. He would only do missions once a day so other shinobi would work as he attended to his family as they had their meetings. He was one of the best they had in the force, almost as well as his former student.

"Minato-sama. May you seal the room? What I have to speak to you about it really important." He spoke, his deep voice showed urgency. Minato nodded his hand and warded everyone out. The only voices that were heard were of the two men in the room.

Raven took off his mask and placed it in his side pouch. "Have a seat Itachi-san." Minato quickly caught on and stopped with the customary welcoming. The young anbu complied and looked at the Hokage without his powerful genkai kekkai.

"I'm going straight to my point, fully knowing you have other business to attend to. I have been going to the clan's meetings recently due to their strange behavior around the compound. I secretively attended one of their special meetings where my father spoke. The clan is planning a coup d'état as they call it, an uprising against the village. Though, there are some of the members who wish that violence should be avoided. "

Minato frowned deeply and leaned forward. He grabbed his hands on his desk and gazed at the young prodigy. "Do you know the reason behind their plan?" He analyzed him, wondering if he was lying to him and saw no sign of it. He gave him the benefit of the doubt and listen carefully.

Itachi sighed sadly, not wanting to hurt his clan but not wanting anything bad to happen to his village. "Some of the clan members are still upset about Senju Clan and the treatment they have endured. They feel like second class citizen and they want more respect for their abilities. They want power they could have attained in the election of the Shodai Hokage Their resentment never left them and seems to only grow stronger."

Minato stood up and performed more seals, a door with blue chakra flickering at the outline of the double door. Itachi walked to the Hokage as he opened one of the heavy doors. "We must talk to the elders and come up with a proper solution. We will not have the Uchiha feel like second class citizen of Konoha. They are not any better or any worse than anyone in the village." He paused and looked at Itachi. He sighed and looked at him worriedly. "Itachi-san, to be honest, I fear that you might not like what the elders will decree about the faith of the clan."

Itachi looked at the blonde Hokage confused and waited for him to continue. "The elders are going to possibly want to get rid of them. We have had suspicion of an uprising ever since Tobirama-san was Hokage. In any case, I promise you that nothing will happen to the clan as long as I'm the Yondaime Hokage of Konoha." He smiled Itachi grabbed him on his shoulder, bringing hope into his eyes. He worriedly though about the other founder of the Hidden Leaf Village and wondered if there was any connection whatsoever.

Itachi stared at the Hokage appreciatively for his honesty. He bowed lowly at the Hokage. "Thank you Minato-sama. I love my village too much to have it destroyed. As well for my clan." He added. A small smile formed as he stayed bowed.

Minato released the ward and walked to the door, waiting for Itachi to pass through. "Please, don't worry. We'll have this problem solved in no time. Now come, we must speak to the elders before it is too late."

_End of Flashback_

A soft knock ringed in Hokage's ear. "Come in" He wiped away some of the noodles from his face. He turned away from the view of the village as he welcomed his visitor. "Raven-san. It's nice to see again. Please have a seat."

Raven-san took a seat. If it was not for his mask covering his face, Raven would have been smiling at the Hokage for having some ramen on his face. "I'm here to give my monthly report about the clan. All is well now. The clan no longer has any resentment against the villagers. They are working well with no talk of the coup d'état."

"That is good to hear. I knew that the compromise would work. In one more year, we won't have you give this report anymore. The probation is almost up and your clan can be at rest. On another note, I have a mission for you and your team. All of the details are here and if you any question, just ask. It's pretty self-explanatory." Minato handed over a manila folder of the mission as he looked over Raven's report.

Raven looked through it. "Thank you Hokage-sama." He stood and bowed, disappearing in a puff of smoke.

_Thank Kami that everything went well. I wouldn't want Kushina to be upset that I had her best friend killed along with her husband and child._

He shook his head and smiled proudly. "I wonder how Naruto is doing. He should be doing his genin test after a quick recess. Perhaps I'll stop by and watch for myself after a nice read of Jiraiya-sensei's book." He said to himself as he reached in his drawer and pulled out an orange book, glancing at the cover.

He was about to read his longtime favorite book when someone knock at the door. He sighed and placed his book on the desk. "Come in." He called out.

The ninja stepped in with a book in his face. He was fair skinned with spiky white hair. Dark eyes with the left eyes covered with his forehead protector tilted to left. He wore a mask which obscures the lower half of his face. He wore the standard flat jacket over a long sleeved black shirt with the red spiral at the side. He had on black long pants with blue shinobi sandals.

He looked up from his book and his visible eye smiled at the Hokage. "Yo Minato-san." Minato smiled at his former student amuse. He knew that his student went through a lot as a kid and in the Third Shinobi War where he lost his best friend and nearly lost his other teammate Nohara Rin. She was kidnapped and interrogated for Konoha's war effort but her strong will never faltered. With her surviving the war, she was able to make Kakashi, his other student to not give up and have hope. Their other teammate died but Minato and his old team didn't like talking about it.

"How is Rin, Kakashi?" Minato asked, smiling at his students. He knew that his student never thought about the prospect of love, especially not with his teammate Rin, but he knew that she liked him. It wasn't until that Rin came from the war, where she almost died, for Kakashi to realize that he loved her as well.

"She's at the hospital, doing well. I'm here to see how you are sensei. How are Naruto and Kiyomi?" He asked, sitting in one of the chairs.

Minato sighed, running his hand through his hair. "Kiyomi is doing fine. Her friend Akihiko, from the Uchiha clan seems to have a crush on Kiyo. She doesn't know but it is a matter of time that she notices. I'm surprise that Akihiko hasn't realized his feelings towards her."

Kakashi was going to let out a perverted giggled but stopped at the face of his sensei. He looked a little worried and annoyed of the boy. As he was about to say something, he was stopped short.

"Otousan! Otousan!" A loud clear voice yell, coming closer to the office. The Hokage perked up as he quickly placed his book in the middle drawer, smiling at the door. He barged in, a bead of perspiration on his forehead. Minato stood up and quickly went to him and hugged him. "Hey Naruto. What's with all the yelling?"

Naruto looked up at his father and grinned. "I just did the transformation jutsu! I think I nailed it! I know everything for the genin exam except for one, the bunshin, but still! You should have been there!" He jumped up giddy, bouncing on the heel of his feet. "I'm going to kick butt! Believe it!" He threw a kick in the air. He then noticed Kakashi in the room. "Hey Kakashi-san." Kakashi nodded his head, smiling under his mask as how great of a father his teacher is.

Minato looked at him. "Really? That's great son. Taking up after your father aren't you?" He clasped his shoulder. "Let's eat some ramen I have in my drawer hidden. Don't tell you mother though." He said, walking to his desk, pulling out the cups of instant ramen. With a simple jutsu, he boiled the water and carefully poured the steaming water into the cups, waiting for the three minutes to pass.

"Yes!" Naruto yelled. "Dattebayo! I'll be Hokage in no time! Believe it!" Naruto threw his fist in the air in excitement. Kakashi sweat dropped and waved his hand at them. "Later." With that said, he turned to a puff a smoke.

Minato chuckled, ignoring Kakashi little escape. "Trying to take my place are you?" He sat down on his chair and placed his foot on his desk. Naruto blushed in embarrassment, laughing to himself. He looked back as steam rose from the cups. "Here's your cup of ramen." Minato said, ecstatic that his son had already decided what his goals as a ninja were going to be which would only make him a stronger ninja and more determined one as well.

Naruto jumped toward his dad's opened hand and took the ramen, devouring it in an instant without the chopstick he offered. Minato walked back to his seat and sat down, digging his chopsticks into the ramen cup, "Minato! Naruto!" Kushina yelled, barging inside his office. At the sound of her voice, the Yondaime promptly fell off of his chair, spilling the ramen on his clothes, his green flat jacket specifically. Naruto quickly threw his cup of ramen out the window and turned to look at his mother guiltily. Painful yell was heard with muffled cries under the window and Naruto ignored it.

They both looked at her in surprise as she glared at them. She walked to Naruto and bashed him at the back of his head, her teeth gritted as she shot daggers at him. "What did I tell you about eating too much ramen? It's not good for you! Baka!" She then cast a dirt look at her husband, pointing a finger at her husband. "You…"

He put his hand in front of him in surrender, smiling. "It was just a little snack. There was no harm in that." All of her anger left her face and she smiled contently. "Okay. What were my boys doing?" she said cheerfully, sitting on one of the chairs a jumpy Naruto offered.

He recovered quickly and smiled cheekily at his parents. "I'm going to be genin and I can go on cool missions and earn my own money!"

Kushina burst out laughing. Minato looked at her with his lips twitching upwards, trying not to laugh with her. Naruto paused and looked at them. "Why are you laughing? I'm going to be a great ninja and surpass you both!" He glared at them, putting his hands on his waist in frustration.

Kushina laughed more, muffling her laugh with her hand. She blushed slightly for her outburst and took a deep breath. "How can you be a great shinobi when you wear orange? If you want to live through a mission, then you need to work on stealth. You are a walking target."

Minato suppressed a smile as he leaned against his desk, glancing at both of them. "Your mother is right. Maybe she can take you clothes shopping."

Naruto pouted. "But I like orange! It's my favorite color! With okaasan's red hair, and our yellow hair, you get me!"

"What about Kiyomi?" Minato asked, amused of his reaction. It reminded him of Kushina when they were both in the academy. Loud and defensive, even for the smallest things. He remembered when she told everybody about her dreams too.

Naruto scoffed. "Kiyomi-chan one of the special ones. She has yellowish orange hair."

"Ano? Speaking of hair, are you going to tell your father what you did to the monument?" Kushina asked innocently, inspecting her nails. Naruto paled slightly, glancing at the door for an escape route.

Minato leaned forward from the edge of his desk, arms crossed. "What happened to your motor-mouth? Are you not going to tell me?" Kushina looked up at the mention of motor-mouth and threw a little glare at her husband who in return gave her wink.

Naruto laughed sacredly. "Look at the time! I have to get back to the academy for class! Phew. It was nice talking! Later." He ran for the door, hearing the sound of Kushina's laughter roaring again.

"Naruto!" He called out, appearing in front of his son. "Whoah." He said to himself, shaking his head.

"Get a bucket and brush and clean off the paint. You're lucky I decide not to deduct it from your future paychecks. I want you to wash the monument before you get home." He said sternly.

"Aw! Come on! Kaa-san didn't tell me anything! She said you look nice with red hair." He complained. Both of them glanced back at Kushina. She smiled angelically, sliding deep into the chair. He gave Naruto a pointed look, motioning for him to keep moving.

Naruto grumbled under his breath, dragging his feet on the floor. "I shouldn't have listened to Kiyomi-chan. She should have done it." He walked past the secretary, mumbling incoherent words.

"I bet Sasuke-teme tried to beat me in the exams. Psst! Like he can!" He talked to himself. With his hands in his pocket, he walked out of the Hokage's building and headed to the academy's playground.

"Naruto." A deep voice called out to him. He turned around and looked at him questionably. The man had short length white hair that had a hint of blue. With green eyes, he wore a standard flat jacket and a forehead protector as a bandana. He had a small smirk as he gazed at the young boy.

"Hey Mizuki-sensei. Are you here to tell me I became genin? Huh?" Naruto asked, bouncing up and down as he recognized the man as a fellow proctor who reviewed their exams. "Did I pass before everyone else for my awesome moves?" He lifted his leg for a kick and nearly fell, but caught himself.

"Ugh. Actually, no. I have something important to tell you. Come with me." He wore a serious face, making the young Namikaze frown. His hands were deep in his pocket as he spoke to the academy student. He tried not to grimace and glare at the boy in front of him. Because of the brat's father, he was still a teacher at the academy as nobody took him on serious or treated him with any respect. Mizuki was tired that he was not treated like any other shinobi just because he taught their ungrateful children. He was going to change all of their minds, even if he had to do it forcefully.

"What's so important that you have to tell me? Should I get kaa-san?" He scratched his head, looking at his dad's office.

Mizuki sighed irritated. "Just come with me Naruto-kun. It is quite important." He looked back at the Hokage's office and then at the child.

"Okay." Mizuki grabbed Naruto and jumped away.

Namikaze Kiyomi walked through the village thoughtfully, avoiding bumping into anyone her brother knew and talked with. Every so often, she would put her hair behind her hair, anxiously walking near the park at the village. She took off her headband because it was giving her a headache but also wanting her hair to be more like her mother as well. _I wonder if Naruto-niisan told mother or father about my little idea. He probably didn't, either way, I should be extract good this afternoon and help mother cook dinner and perhaps help father and cheer him up. _

"Kiyomi-chan! Wait up!" A boy yelled, running after the youngest Namikaze. He panted as he stopped in front of her. "Didn't you hear me yell after you? I wanted to ask you something." The black haired boy said, smiling at her, catching his breath. He had the traditional Uchiha black hair that spiked out on its own; defying gravity, though his hair seemed to be more tamed than others. He wore a long white shirt with a belt tied at the middle, a netted shirt underneath with a pair of black shorts.

"I'm sorry Akihiko-kun. I was lost in my thoughts. Forgive me." Kiyomi said, returning his smile with her heart breaking smile, which made the Yondaime Hokage surrender at the whim of his only daughter, granting her anything she pleased.

A slight blush adorned his cheek. "Huh?" He said dumb folded. She looked at him with worry and he quickly recuperated, shaking his head. "It's okay Kiyomi-chan. I just wanted to ask if you wanted to train with me. Itachi-niisan was able to train with me before Sasuke-niisan got home. I can teach you the moves he taught me."

"Okay Akihiko-kun. Let's go to my house. Our training ground is larger to train in with more terrain." She reached for his hand and he pulled it back like he touched a hot potato. She frowned and looked him, her crystal blue eyes saddening. "What's wrong Akihiko?" Her bright blue eyes met his black eyes one, making his heart ache at the little pain she showed. His heart suddenly began to beat faster, pounding in his ribcage.

He cleared his throat. "Sorry. I just didn't want to get your hand sweaty. I had to run after you to catch up." He answered lamely, almost regretting lying to her. He quickly wiped his palms against his shorts. _I need to talk to Itachi-niisan and Sasuke-niisan. They probably will be able to explain what is happening with me. I don't know why I'm blushing when she tells me something or why my heart suddenly beats faster when she's near. If not, I'm sure that father and mother will explain it then. I might be sick somehow._

She beamed at him. "Don't worry about it Akihiko. Once we are training, we will sweat either way. I don't mind." She reached for his hand again and he met her halfway. "Race you!" She called, pulling him with her and then let him go after a few meters, running up ahead than him.

"Hey! That's not fair! You started running before I did!" He complained, running after a slight blur before him. Just when he thought he was going to catch up with her, he bumped into her. He landed on his butt and looked up at his best friend. "Kiyomi-chan, what's wrong? Why did you stop?"

He followed her gaze and saw a mix of colors of orange and yellow along with a tall man with gray hair. "Is that not your brother?"

Most of the color left her face as she looked at the gray haired shinobi. "What is Naruto-kun doing with him? He's usually with Kaa-san and Otousan eating ramen or something."

Akihiko beamed at her. "He probably wants to train with him. Don't you want to be strong like your brother?"

Kiyomi nodded her head, not truly convinced as she raced home. Something about the man with her older brother left her with an unnerving feeling. He let off an aura of malicious and destruction, his flat jacket not really giving a warm feeling of protection unlike others who choose to be shinobi of the Hidden Leaf Village to stand and serve their people of Konoha.

"Kiyomi, how about if we go after them. We can watch after them and see if he teaches Naruto-kun anything cool and practice it. Also, then you can be calm knowing your brother is alright." The youngest Uchiha said, reasoning with her.

She gave him a grateful smile and squeezed his hand as she helped him up. "Thank you Akihiko-kun. You're the best!" She cheered, giving him a hug. Akihiko froze, his body instantly becoming warm all over. He turned red from his neck to his face, his heart seeming to be in his throat.

"Are you sure that you are alright? It seems like you have a fever or some sort. You are a little too warm. My mom can take you to the hospital if-" She pulled away and placed her hand on his forehead before he pushed it away.

"It's okay Kiyomi-chan! I'm fine! Totally healthy!" He choked out too quickly, a blush coming out again from embarrassment.

"Alright then, come one. They aren't far from here now." She whispered as they ran after them. They neared an abandon looking house and slowed down, walking carefully. She crouched down and signaled him to do the same. With their feet wide apart, they place their ears to the ground, listening for steps. Two heavy steps stopped after heading north a few meters ahead.

Kiyomi's head bounced up as she pointed to her left. In front of the porch sat Naruto and Mizuki, both with a dead serious face. Scared, they walked closer to the men to be within earshot and put their backs to the wall and stayed still and quiet to listen to the conversation.

"I'm sorry Naruto that you had to find out that Iruka only wants to have you pass the exams because of your father being Hokage and all. I thought you did well on Henge no Jutsu. With a little bit more practice, then you will be able to master it. The fact is that Iruka does not want you pass this year for his own selfish reason. However, I know a loophole into the Genin Test."

Kiyomi carefully peeked at the side of the house. She noticed her brother had a look of sadness and all she wanted to do was go run to his side and give him a hug. She restrained herself as she stayed with her back to the wall, wanting to hear what the man wanted with her brother.

"What is it? Tell me Mizuki-sensei!" He exclaimed, jumping out of his seat.

"There's a forbidden scroll hidden in a temple that is guarded. If you grab the scroll, you would be able to pass _if_ you were to perform one of the jutsu perfectly, becoming a genin automatically. It was another exam for genin to prove themselves worthy but was only done for those who showed great character and needed more help to show that they had mastered the material. "

Naruto's face lit up and darkened if only a little. He scratched his cheek and frowned slightly as if in thought. _A forbidden scroll? If it is another exam for students to take that need help, then why is it forbidden? I never hear about this._

Kiyomi's breathing quickened as listen. Akihiko narrowed his eyebrow as he continued to listen, watching his best friend as well. If any sign she was going to ruin their cover, he would happily carry her away from her brother to safety.

"Later tonight, go retrieve the scroll and I'll meet you here but facing the forest so I can train with you. Maybe then, you will be able to pass the test. You'll be able to make your father much prouder with a higher mark then everyone else."

Kiyomi silently gasped and motioned with her head to run. They ran into the village and took a sharp left turn. They were in the middle of the bundling of villagers, scampering into the shops. The young Uchiha firmly grabbed Kiyomi's wrist and led her from the cluttered villagers and pulled her toward the park that was nearby.

"Kiyomi, perhaps we heard wrong. We only got there after they were already there and they could have been talking about something else entirely." He reason, trying to bring a smile on his best friend. "Besides, we both know how much your brother trains. I wouldn't be surprise if he just messing with us."

She turned to face him. "You're right." She gave him a small smile before she looked away worried. "Let's go train. Maybe we misheard the whole conversation. We are not far from my house anyways. I think okaasan can make us a snack."

He instantly brightened up at the mention of her mother's cooking. Uchiha Mikoto was not bad cook at all but her cooking was nothing compared to the kunoichi from the Uzushiogakure. No one can deny that the cooking of Red Hot Habanero of Konoha was delicious!

Naruto sat on the porch, waiting for Mizuki to walk away. He listened to everything he said but got distracted only slightly. He sensed the chakra of his younger sister and her best friend nearby the building. He did not know whether it was his imagination or not that he heard her gasped before running off. He must have eaten the ramen too fast to hear anything right. Either way, he wanted to go find her and ask her what she heard and what she was doing here.

He honestly did not know what to think. He had been training with his mother and occasionally his father would spar with him whenever he had time to spare. Naruto wished he had more time to train with his dad but knew that he had a big responsibility to watch over the village and the people of Konoha. He didn't keep it against him. Never.

The young Namikaze heir sighed deeply troubled. "How can I not pass the exams? I've trained with okaasan and tried to study. Hmph. The only thing I can't do is to perform the Transformation Technique or Clone Technique but even then, okaasan said there was an exception to my abilities. Unless…" His voice trailed off as he came to a conclusion. Worried, he stood up and walked to the village, paying no attention to any one in particular.

He walked through the park and saw a familiar an indigo haired girl. "Hey Hinata!" He said, waving energetically at her as she picked up some of the spring flowers. She looked up and turned red, promptly fainting, falling on the tall grass.

Naruto's eyes turned wide as he ran towards her. "Hinata!" He called out worriedly. He walked through the grass that kept her concealed from everyone and picked her up in his arms. "Dammit. I just waved at her and she fainted. She must be sick or something. Don't worry Hinata. I'll take you to the hospital and you'll get better!"

He bent over and picked her up, putting her on his shoulder. "Gosh Hinata, you must really heavy or I'm just not that fit." He adjusted her into his arm, holding her bridal instead, the weight evenly distributed. Her pale eyes fluttered opened and she turned red all over again. "Hinata! You're awake!" Her eyes widened before they rolled back, going unconscious.

"Awe man!" He complained, carrying her to the hospital. _What did I do to get her sick? She must be really ill to be fainting. I'm sure that she'll get better and she'll pass and be genin too! _

He arrived at the hospital and went up to the front desk. "Excuse me, but Hinata-chan keeps fainting." He told the nurse on the desk. She took off her glasses and looked at him, placing patients' charts on her desk. "Naruto-kun! What happened to her?"

"I just said that she kept fainting! I don't know what's wrong with her! I just saw her at the park and she went down." He said defensively, holding her closely. He wanted to drop her for her weight but knew that would be mean on his part. He didn't want to be rude and get her hurt.

"What is going on? Oh hey Naruto. What happened with the Hyuga girl?" A feminine voice called. Naruto perked up at the sound of her voice while the nurse instinctively stood straighter. She had two rectangle purple tattoos on her cheek, light brown hair that rested on her shoulder with muddy soft brown eyes. Her Hidden Leaf headband covered her forehead. She had a loose long sleeved shirt with a tight skirt that went to her tall waist, accenting her curvy features.

"Hey Rin-chan!" Naruto beamed at her, smiling at him with his famous smile. Rin giggled and ruffled the boy's hair. "Come on, tell me what happened to the little girl."

Naruto looked sheepishly as he looked at the girl in his arms. "Nurse, please take Hinata to one of the rooms and have her checked."

The nurse nodded her head and took the girl from his arms. "Well, I don't know what happened to Hinata-chan, but once I said hi to her, she fainted and she fell. I didn't know what to do so I just brought her here."

Rin smirked at the young boy. Like any other boys, he was clueless on how the young Hyuga heiress felt for him. Everyone knew that Hinata developed a crush on him. Everyone knew better than to try to explain it to him so they kept it in the shadow until he learned to figure it out or until manage to tell Naruto herself. "Bye Naruto. I'll see you later. Oh, before I forget. Next time, wait for 10 minutes before you do anything." Rin said, chuckling to herself as she went to attend the patients.

Naruto looked after who he called aunt as she walked down the hall. He didn't know what she meant by waiting for 10 minutes, then again he never understood why she would faint every time he was near her. He shook his head as he walked out of the hospital.

"Why couldn't find Sakura-chan in the park instead? She's so pretty and smart." He grumbled to himself. He settled into a peaceful silent as he walked home, replaying today's event. He turned red from the embarrassment at the memory of kissing Sasuke. _Eww! I'm going to brush my teeth all-night! Use mouth wash and floss! I would rather kiss Akamaru than that teme! Such and ignorant shinobi! I don't even know why Kiyomi-chan hangs out with Akihiko. _

The scroll stayed in his mind as if it were imprinted in his mind. According to Mizuki, anyone that would be able to master at least one of the jutsu, then they would be automatically promoted to genin. He liked the odds but what kept the gears in his head spinning was that it was in a temple guarded.

If the scrolls was to be used by anyone wanting to past, then the scroll would be at the library or the sensei would recommend it to their students. The fact that the scroll was hidden made Naruto smiled at the challenge. The odds of Mizuki being right were very slim. A scroll that was forbidden was forbidden for a reason, though the reason for _this_ particular scroll made no sense to him. If it would grant anyone into the academy to be promoted, then it would only be fair if they all could read it.

He rubbed his hands anticipating going to get the scroll. He took out a piece of parchment and took out an ink pen. He scribbled something on the piece of paper and hurried along the dirt road to the end of the village.

Within ten minutes, his home came to view. The dark ginger orange roof came to sight, with the light beige yellow colored walls. The iron black gates surrounded their house's perimeter until the back yard that held their large training ground. He opened the single gate and tiptoed inside. He looked to his left and then to his right, smiling to himself. _Kiyomi-chan, I need you to come and find me and deliver a little something to kaa-san. _

He walked through the side of the house and put his back to the wall quickly as he heard the clinking of metals, probably kunai knife stopping at hit. He popped his head at the side of the house and saw his sister sparring with her friend. Naruto narrowed his eyes as he looked at Akihiko. _Just friends, ha! Look at him holding back on Kiyomi. He better be just friends with her or I'm going to have a talk with him." _He growled mentally.

He walked out, making her sister and her friend stop from sparring. "Hey Naruto. What's up?" She asked casually, wiping her sweating hands on her dress.

Naruto almost laughed. "Nothing much. Kiyo-chan, I have something for you to give kaa-san. Give it to her once she comes. It's really important."

Kiyomi gave Akihiko a looked and took the letter from Naruto. "What do I tell her when she asked what it's for?"

"Nothing except that I will be waiting for her." Naruto smiled eagerly, walking to the gates and swiftly jumped over it.

Kiyomi looked at her best friend, who shrugged in response. She sighed and threw a skuriken at Akihiko, resuming their battle. She was just praying that her brother didn't do anything bad.


	3. The Meaning of Forbidden and Love

Chapter 3: The Meaning of Forbidden and Love

The night sky shone bright with the twinkling of millions of stars. The rain clouds floated in the air, dancing place to place. The air was misty and fresh, about to begin with rain showers. He resorted to sprinting now, each step pierced the tranquil weatherly night. Sounds of leaves crunching under his weight were all that was heard as he raced to the forest where he was supposed to meet Mizuki. He was upset with the change of sudden events. He didn't make as genin while his other friends did. He tried really hard and thought what Mizuki told him about Iruka. If Iruka was going to have Naruto pass because of his father, then why was he not given a headband like his friends? He knew something was going on but not sure what. All he cared about was to make sure he became genin if it meant doing the impossible.

Naruto adjusted the scroll on his back as he stayed in the middle of the opened field. He found it hard to see in the sunless day as he waited impatiently for Mizuki. Naruto knew that he was a little early and decided to make the best of it. He sat on the floor and opened the scroll and began reading through the jutsu.

He blinked many times, trying to see if what he was reading was true. Most of the jutsu written were really high ranked and required a lot of chakra and good control of your affinity. Heck, Naruto didn't know his affinity and didn't' know which to attempt to do. Two names that he saw frequently were Uchiha Itachi and Hatake Kakashi. He scratched his cheek and wondered if this Itachi was anything related to Sasuke-teme. If he was, then Naruto would have more training to beat him. Kakashi on the other hand, he would have to beg him to teach every move that was written in the scroll to beat everyone and become Hokage.

He came across two jutsu that seemed to overlap each other, Bunshin Daibakuha and Taju Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. Bunshin Daibakuha was written by Itachi and Taju Kage Bunshin no Jutsu was written by the Shodai Hokage. He read both of them carefully and with great interest as he looked at the hand seals at the bottom. Naruto looked down on his hands, seeing if that he was doing the seals right and concentrated.

Frustrated that none of the shadow clones appeared, he looked back down at the scroll, reading a smaller print under the seal: **Though this technique allows duplicating the user and having the ability to retrieve any information the clone obtained, it also is quite dangerous. All of the clones are given an equal amount of chakra directly from the user. Which so much chakra used and distributed to the vast numbers of clones, the user will suffer from chakra exhaustion and internal damage. **

Naruto took it into consideration and kept trying to do the jutsu._ I can't give up now. How will I become Hokage if I can't even be genin! I won't give up, no matter what happens._

Several Hours Later

Naruto beamed at his shadow clones. Hundreds of Narutos looked back at him and had a big smirk on his face. They all turned to each other and introduced themselves. Some of the Narutos were getting annoyed by the other being called the same and started pushing each other. "Hey!" Naruto yelled, not wanting the clones to pop each other. "I have this awesome jutsu I want to try. Stay still!" He ordered his clones. They all nodded and waited for Naruto. He took a deep breath and focus on his chakra of one of the clones.

He grunted and the sound of an explosion broke out. Naruto was pushed back from the explosions, gush of winds wiping through as he hit one of the trees. The other clones popped as some tried to run but they weren't spare as the debris got the closest clones. He fell to his knees and looked up with a smile on his face. Bead of perspiration was dripping from his forehead as it fell to the ground.

As Naruto was going to fall on his face, he heard the sound of branches breaking. He quickly stood on his feet and perked his ear, holding his breath as the ninja came towards him. As he was going to perform one of the new jutsu he learned, he saw it was the genin teacher. Mizuki.

Mizuki raised an eyebrow as he show Naruto full of sweat and dirt. He was about to comment and decided not to. "Naruto, I see that you received the scroll from the temple. Tell me, was it difficult to obtain?" He asked in a monotone voice. He just wanted the stupid brat to hand over the scroll and be done with him. Once the scroll was in his possession, then he would make sure that the village knew what they did and how weak they are compare to him. He would no longer have to worry about the ninja clans and anyone else in the village.

Naruto sighed deeply, wondering if he should play along or show him the new jutsu he learned. He knew that he was going to be in trouble once he got home, but he could have fun. Shaking his head, he thought against it. "Mizuki-sensei, I know that you wanted me to steal the scroll."

Mizuki blinked in response. He thought he filled the kid with enough motives to have him not doubt him. He knew how much Naruto cared for Iruka and everyone in the academy, not wanting to let them down. Naruto had much to prove, especially how great of shinobi his parents are. Though, now that he knew the truth, he no longer had to hold back. He let out a sinister laughed and took out his large shuriken, pulling his leg to the side. "Naruto, here I thought you would be able to manipulate you much better. It would make sense you can't fool with the demon since they are the one that fools the most."

"What is that supposed to mean!" He yelled out, a habit of his. He was not sure if Mizuki called him a demon or he misunderstood. Though one thing was for certain, Mizuki meant business with the scroll, willing to fight him for it.

"That you are the reason why Iruka lost everything. You are the reason most of the villagers lost something dear to them. You're nothing more than a spoiled brat that caused chaos and destruction to the village." Mizuki yelled, the veins in the temple of his eye popping up.

Naruto took out a few shurikens and threw them aimlessly to Mizuki. He quickly dodged it like nothing and jumped on a tree branch, glaring at the boy. "You are weak compared to the likes of me. For the village and for myself, I'll make sure that you are destroyed." He threw his large shuriken and aimed to cut him in half. Shocked with the sudden movement, Naruto barely managed to jump out of the way, only getting nicked at his side.

He reached and touched the cut and show blood. He eyes widened and he looked up at Mizuki. He already took out his kunai and began throwing them at the boy. He was surprise how Naruto managed to dodge them. He reached for one more and throw at his right shoulder.

Being that Naruto was near the tree, the kunai went through his orange jacket and stuck him at the tree trunk. "Crap!" Naruto complained, kicking his legs in the air, attempting to let loose.

Mizuki stepped down from the branch, an evil smirk on his face. "Now Naruto, hand over the scroll and I'll consider letting you live. Only considering to let you live." He slowly walked to Naruto, ignoring the kicks that were being sent for him.

"Mizuki! Stay away from Naruto!" A voice yelled out, revealing to be Iruka. He was a little out of breath as he raced towards here, remembering how Naruto mentioned to him that he liked this forest where his parents trained him when they weren't busy.

"Ah, Iruka. It seems that you came too late. Naruto already agreed to hand over the scroll. Though, now that you know, I might have to kill you both." He said matter-of-factly.

"What!" Naruto yelled out, as he wiggled free from the kunai, ripping his jacket off. _I should have just zipped my jacket down! I was an open target like kaa-san said! I have to protect Iruka now. _

"Naruto, run with the scroll! Don't let Mizuki have the scroll! He just wants it to hurt the village." Iruka yelled as Mizuki turned to face Naruto.

Naruto knew that much but he needed confirmation about how there was not another part of the genin test. "What about the test? He said that if I were to take the scroll, master at least one of the jutsu, then I'm automatically promoted to genin!"

Iruka shook his head, carefully pulling out his kunai. "There's no such test Naruto, Mizuki was just lying to you to get the scroll. He always-"

"Now Iruka, let's not be hasty. Since we are now revealing about the truth and all. How about I tell Naruto about his little guest? He does deserve to know. It's sad how his father tried very hard to keep that secret away from him."

Sacred, Iruka threw his poisoned kunai at Mizuki, not letting him tell Naruto about the law. The kunai struck him in the chest and turned into a log. "Substitution. Naruto, I need you to run away and keep the scroll. Don't let Mizuki get the scroll no matter what!"

He nodded his head and dashed out of the clearing, pushing the branches and bushes out of his way. He only wished he was able to get the scroll back to the temple and help. _How could I have been so stupid! I knew that this was a set up. I only hope that Kiyo-chan took the note to kaasan and they are on their way. Iruka-sensei is going to need help. _ As he was about to take out a piece of paper, he heard an explosion. "Iruka-sensei!"

He looked back and saw Iruka coming after him. He almost sighed of relief when he saw him but then looked at him appalled. Mizuki used a substitution jutsu when they were fighting back there, 'Iruka' could be Mizuki using a henge. He performed the jutsu he learned and multiple Narutos appeared, some running somewhere to hide.

He stopped and threw a kunai at him at his feet. "Hey!" 'Iruka' said. Naruto landed on his feet and glared at the man before him. "How do I know you are the real Iruka? Mizuki disappeared back there. I don't know to trust you."

"Of course it's me Naruto. Now hand over the scroll before Mizuki gets here. We need to leave before he finds out about our location."

Naruto stepped forward, taking off the scroll that was tied to his back and held it in front of him. "If you are the real Iruka, then answer this question. What is my favorite type of ramen?"

'Iruka' sweat dropped as if trying to remember if he had a favorite type and then smirked at an idea that popped in his head. "It's beef pork ramen." He said confidently.

Naruto put his hands through the seals he learned earlier, hundreds of Narutos appearing around the forest. "You're wrong. We don't have a favorite ramen. They are all too good to choose from." The clones spoke simultaneously, causing Mizuki to return to his real form.

Mizuki was irked that the brat noticed his henge. His abilities were far passed than the kids. It didn't matter that he was the son of the legendary Hokage known as the Yellow Flash and his wife, the Red Hot Habanero of Konoha. All that mattered was the skills acquired and mastered in this battle. He was going to end this but he wanted to do something to cause him more pain as well.

"With Iruka out of the picture, I can finally tell you about your past Naruto. Have you ever wondered why you were treated so special compared to everyone else beside that you are the son of the Hokage? It's because you are a demon Naruto." He said, not letting the boy speak.

All of the Naruto widens their eyes and pounced at Mizuki. "I'm not a demon!" He yelled out. Mizuki laughed in delight as he attacked all of the clones. "Yes you are. Twelve years ago, on October 10, there was an attack on the village, something you learned at the academy. On that day, the nine-tails, the Kyuubi attacked the village. What do you think your beloved father did in order to stop to beast?

It was too strong to be killed and they were usually sealed into humans. The only thing that could be done was to seal the demon into a human sacrifice to keep it from killing the village. He chose you and sealed the demon into you Naruto. Cause of that, you are the nine-tailed beast!" Mizuki said, laughing to himself.

"That's not true! My father would never do that! He loves me!" He called out, trying to explode the nearest clone to Mizuki.

"It's true. Why do you think Iruka didn't want you to pass the exam? You killed his parents and you are a danger to the villagers' children. He didn't want to be suspicious to your nosy father so he waited until the exams to make sure you never made genin." Mizuki finished destroying all of the clones that went after him and made his way to Naruto that fell on his back from the revelation. "I'm going to finished you demon child before your stupid family notices that you are missing."

He took out another folded shuriken that seemed sharper that the other one. Mizuki slowly passed his hand over the blade, admiring the metal. He pulled his arm back and pumped chakra to his injured arm and threw the shuriken, a malicious smile on his face.

Naruto stayed paralyzed with fear as he waited for the blades to slice through him. He silently closed his eyes, hoping it would be a quick death. He never thought his life could have been a lie. He had his parents who he thought loved him and a teacher that was willing to spend time with him, his parents always being busy and never spending much time with him or attention.

When the blade didn't go through him, he opened his eyes. Iruka was hunched over him, protecting him from the shuriken. "Iruka-sensei, why did you save me when I killed everyone you care about?" He whispered, tears in his eyes.

"Naruto, I heard what Mizuki said and none of it is true. I did lose my parents when the Kyuubi attack but that wasn't your fault. Both my parents cared for your parents and somehow capable of passing through the barrier you mom put when the Kyuubi attacked. My parents also wanted to protect the village, and it wasn't until after years I learned about it" Iruka said weakly, coughing blood at Naruto. He was surprise to arrive at the clearing with multiple Narutos and made a mental note that if he were to survive; he would make sure Naruto was promoted for mastering a clone technique.

"You lie Iruka! You hated the boy for what you went through! Just kill him already Iruka!" Mizuki said, angered.

"My parents died and I was upset and lonely. I never thought that I could forget what happened to them. At the academy, I started acting up and my grades fell. I became the class clown that everyone laughed at. I only wanted them to remember who I was unlike how they remembered my parents. At the end, I was in a depression all alone but when what I did came back to me, I knew I had to change. I knew that I wasn't the only one that lost their parents. I decided to then teach the children of the village to then help them. I never hated anyone, and especially not you. You help protect the village every day and I don't see you as a student, but more like I brother I never had."

The tears Naruto was holding back fell freely as Iruka fell to his side. "Iruka-sensei!" He went to his side, checking if he was holding up. The shuriken sliced through his back with a lot of blood dripping down his back.

"He is going to die either way. It's your turn now." Angered flash through the Namikaze heir's blues eyes, startling Mizuki. Naruto suddenly was surrounded by blue chakra, flickering around him that quickly started changing color, red stream of chakra flowing through. One of his blue eyes turned red, the pupil becoming cat like.

"Naruto, please run away. Stay clear from Mizuki" Iruka called out, coughing repeatedly.

"Naruto! Naruto! Son, where are you!" A desperate voice yelled, sounding louder the closer it came. "Namikaze Naruto!" It screamed out in outraged. The ninja raced in, her hair flowing. The kunoichi had her hair tied up in a high pony tail while the rest of her hair cascaded to her lower back. She wore her blue shinobi headband on her forehead and her normal dress with black tights underneath. She was glaring at the gray haired man that had her son endangered, waiting for him to turn around.

"Mom!" Naruto yelled out, wiping his tears away from his sleeves as the power he felt disappeared. Kushina narrowed as her angered grew from the sight of her son being upset and hurt especially how he seemed to be using the Kyuubi's chakra. Her eyes paled and her hair began to rise as chakra surrounded her, her anger rising.

"Suiton: Bakusui Shoha!" She roared as water blasted from her mouth and hit himdirectly. Mizuki flew to the trunk of a tree and Kushina took advantage with the water already available and performed her second jutsu. "Suiton: Suiryudan no Jutsu!" From the water that came from her mouth, it turned to the shape of a dragon and drenched Mizuki from head to toes as the dragon bit him all over. The impact of the blast caused him to yell out in pain and grip his stomach.

Kushina wasn't satisfied as she watched Mizuki drop from the pain. She was angry that he manipulated her son, making him to go to the extreme and steal a forbidden scroll. It also saddened her how she knew why he would take the scroll. She knew that Minato and she were busy and she was going to make it her mission to have more time for their son and daughter. She loved her children to death and would not allow anything bad to happen to them.

"Taju Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Kushina made two clone of her and nodded her head at them. One clone yelled out, "Suiton: Bakusui Shoha!" and the other clone yelled out "Suiro no Jutsu!" creating a sphere around Mizuki, covering his whole body. The sphere held him captive and did not allow him to move, being only able to talk. The clone that called out the jutsu placed her arm in the sphere to keep him captive. It was an imprisonment until the backup arrived and took him to the interrogation unit.

The real Kushina looked at her son and ran towards him, sitting down with her knees bent. She peppered him with kisses and put her hands on his cheek, putting some distance to look at him clearly. "Naruto." She whispered, taking off his goggles from his head.

"Mom." He said tearfully as she hugged her tight. "I was so sacred. I thought I was going to die but Iruka saved me and…" He choked and buried his face to the crook of her neck. Kushina swallowed a lump in her throat and looked at Iruka that was lying on the ground, losing a lot of blood.

She reached down for her radio and called in. "I'm going to need medical backup for Umino Iruka. He has a gashing wound on the back caused by a shuriken thrown at his back. He needs medical attention now!" She barked, pulling away from Naruto and turned her attention to the chunin on the ground.

Others ninja came and saw Kushina busy with Iruka, doing basic medical ninjutsu to help Iruka. Two anbu men that came along headed where Kushina's clone was and took over, expelling her jutsu. The water imprisonment dispelled and Mizuki landed on the ground, unable to move. Once the medical ninja came, Kushina grabbed Naruto and the scroll and headed for the sacred temple. She threw Naruto over her shoulder and held the scroll as she arrived at the temple. Few guards came and took the scroll, already being notified on the occurred events and went to place the scroll where it belonged.

Naruto, who was quite through the whole trip, stepped down from his mother shoulder and decided to go to the house. He waited patiently for his mother to finish talking with the other men and to go back home with her. Kushina walked out and sighed. Naruto looked paled and had a troubled look on his face. She was wondering what happened to him that has him in that current state. Her first thought was Mizuki.

Both Namikaze returned home is somber silent. Once they were into their house, they were ambushed by Kiyomi and Minato. "We were so worried. What happened? Are you okay son?" Minato asked worriedly as he got on his knee and looked at Naruto. They walked to the living room and Naruto told them what happened.

He told him about what happened in his genin exam, how he thought he did so well but that Mizuki came to him and told him that Iruka doesn't want him to pass. He told him how Iruka didn't care for him and how he told him how to overlook the exam and still pass with the forbidden scroll. He learned to make a clone and explode it. He told them about how they battle up to the point where his mother came, excluding to part where he was called a monster and that he was the nine-tailed fox in human form. The whole time, his little sister was holding on to his arm and hugging him, sacred to let him go for even a second.

Minato and Kushina were both upset and sad how much Naruto went through just in one day. He wasn't even a ninja yet he had overcame so much. Minato knew that he son did manage with his written exam really high. He wanted to wait until tomorrowwhen Iruka would try to stop by and to tell him that he became genin after all. Naruto should proficiency in the Taju Kage Bunshin no Jutsu and according to what Iruka heard, he learned to make them explode, a jutsu an anbu captain is known to do and mastered. After Minato heard that Kushina found Iruka and Naruto and went to go take care of the scroll, he went over to the hospital to question Iruka of what occurred. He was shocked to hear that Naruto learned how to do multiple shadow clones and explode them, both A ranked jutsus and couldn't be prouder.

He glanced at his wife and nodded his head. Minato quickly went to his office and got a headband and went downstairs back to his seat. "Naruto, you should so much bravery and courage today. I know for a fact that any other shinobi in your feet would hand Mizuki the scroll. The scroll itself is so important for the village. If it was caught in the wrong hand, then the secrets of Konoha would be revealed and it would cause many disputes. In your exams as well, you did well. I spoke to Iruka and he agreed with me so I am honor to say that you passed to be genin with your bravery and capabilities of learning two high ranked jutsu." He handed over the headband to Naruto and waited for him to take it.

"Congratulation ani. You deserve it." Kiyomi said, wiping a tear away. All three waited for Naruto to take the headband and saw he wasn't moving.

"I can't take it without knowing one thing." He spoke, looking at his parents.

Kushina looked at her husband and back her son. "Of course, what's going on?"

Naruto took a deep breath, gripping his pants with his sweaty hands. He closed his eyes, with his head bow, waiting. "Is-is-is- Do I have the nine-tail inside of me?" He whispered staying in his motionless posture.

Kushina jerked back as if she was struck and Minato had his eyes wide. Kiyomi didn't know what the nine tails was but for the reaction her parents gave, she knew that it wasn't good. She wanted to ask, but decided against it.

"Who told you that?" Minato asked, becoming dead serious.

"Does it matter?" Naruto shot back, venom in his tone. Minato flinched and looked at Kushina again. They both planned on telling Naruto about his 'guest' when he at least reached the rank of chunin or when it was making itself known. He was too young already and if they were to tell them, he would be with a heavy burden. Minato didn't want his son to be treated any differently; he had a law passed prohibiting the talk about the Kyuubi and who it was sealed in. The law was for the clans head and high ranked ninjas to keep the villagers safe from such knowledge.

"Naruto, before I can answer you that, I have to tell you the story .About how I use to have the nine-tails inside of me." Kushina said, getting a shock faced from both Naruto and Kiyomi. She sighed and fiddled with her fingers on her lap.

"I was born in born in Uzushiogakure, in the Village of Whirlpools. I'm from a once famous clan called, the Uzumaki Clan. My clan was very prominent in my village. We were distant relatives of the Senju Clan of the First Hokage. The Uzumaki Clan possessed both incredible longevity and life force. Our clan was very knowledgeable in the art of fuinjutsu, being both respected and feared worldwide for prodigious skills. Most of other villagers thought our methods were crude.

I was lucky enough to leave to Konoha to enroll in the academy at a young age before the destruction of Uzushiogakure, and later the Land of Whirlpools. In the shinobi war, other nation viewed our country as a too much of a threat to go uncheck. The remaining survivors fled.

I was brought to Konoha not only to enroll in the academy but also to be used; my sole purpose was to be the next jinchuriki, a vessel for the tailed beast. Like I mentioned before, my clan had special chakra, especially myself. I was born with strong chakra and my predecessor, Senju Mito who originally was an Uzumaki. The first Hokage's wife was the jinchuriki and a very powerful shinobi. I guessed it seemed appropriated. In the battle between Hashirama and Madara, Madara summoned the nine tails, gaining control of him. At one point in the battle, Hashirama gained control of the nine-tails in order to better aid him. Mito-sama sealed it inside of her own body, becoming the first nine-tails jinchuuriki.

From then on, the leaf took possession of the fox and as Mito-sama neared the end of her life, I was brought to the village as the new vessel. To be honest, when I learned the truth, I was speechless. It all had to be kept as a secret, only the third Hokage and the top village councilors. I felt suffocated and helpless with the pressure of being the jinchuuriki and the loneliness it came with. But Mito-sama said this to me: "Ultimately we were brought here to become the vessel of the nine-tails fox…but before the beast can be housed, we first must fill the vessel with love." I didn't know what it meant until Minato came in the picture.

Once I was the jinchuuriki, the Cloud Village wanted me too. They sent ninja to abduct me and to take me to their village where they wanted me kept. I was still young and scared that they were after me. I didn't have any strong ties with anyone because once I came; I told the class that I was going to be the first female Hokage. They didn't like it and made sure to torment me for it. They called me Tomato based on how I looked but then I would punish them until they went to the ground." Kushina giggled a little, blushing slightly too. Naruto leaned in more to the story, as his sister and Minato looked at Kushina in awe.

"That's when I earned a new nickname, the Red Hot Habanero. Well once I was in the hands of the Cloud ninjas, I lost all hope. I knew that the village would send a squad after me. Secretly, I took of strands of my hair and left a trail for them to find me. Nobody saw it but your father did. He came and rescued me. He told me that he noticed the trail of my beautiful hair. When he told me that, I no longer thought about being a jinchuuriki, but how much of a great shinobi Minato was." She stopped and blushed, looking at Minato. Minato smiled kindly and reached for her hand, kissing it. "From that moment on, I fell in love with your father and we got married and we got pregnant of you, Naruto."

Minato became serious as he looked as his kids. "Your mother was going to give birth to you in a secluded place from the village, as a precaution of the nine-tails. There was only a hand full that was given such important information, only the nurses that would be attending your mother, myself, watching over the seal on your mother and anbu ninjas on guard. Your grandpa Jiraiya was an exception as he was considered the only family we had. Once your mother gave birth to you, a masked man managed to break through all of the security we placed. He killed everyone who got in his way. He had you in his arms and I managed to take you way from him. I teleported both you and Jiraiya home so he can take of you.

Once I returned, I didn't find your mother anywhere. She was gone with no traces of the masked man. I remembered that I had placed something special in her seal, in your seal too. I placed my flying god technique within the seal, allowing me to instantly teleport to you anywhere."

Minato took a deep breath, and swallowed hard. He took him time to get over that he almost lost the family he had formed. He wasn't willing to let his family slip through his fingers so easily. "By the time I got to your mother, she had the nine-tails extracted from her. The main concern was to control the biju and to kill the masked man. I manage to wound the masked man and place a special seal on him which took his control over the tailed beast. Your grandfather came with the Third Hokage and helped me control it before it caused any more harm to the village. Before we could handle anything, your motor mouth of your mother came and contained the nine-tailed beast. We needed to seal the biju into someone and the only best option was to seal it into someone who would be able to survive the sealing and that had special chakra. It was only logical to seal it into you when you are an Uzumaki as well.

I wanted the best for the village and being Hokage comes with sacrifices. I knew it would be a point in your life that you would figure out about the beast, and was going to prepare for you to hate me, but I never imagine you would learn about it like this. I'm sorry I put this burden on you, but I knew you are the only one that would save the village, be a hero and protect the village. When we brought you home, we knew that you were going to be sought out for our enemies we made and for what you kept inside, so I was forced to make a law that kept it as an S rank secret. Only the heads on the clans know along with high ranked shinobi and anyone that were to tell you would be executed."

Minato swallowed a lump in his throat and said one last thing. "I will understand if you hate me and not want anything to do with me. This is such a heavy burden that I wished I never place on anyone, especially not you but it had to be done."

Naruto gulped the sadness stuck on his throat. He would never have thought his own father would seal a demon inside of him. He never knew why he would feel a burning sensation whenever he drew out chakra. He always thought that he was different than everyone else and was capable of recuperate faster because of his parents. Never in his right minds would he thought that he was carrying a demon and everyone he knew and love kept it as a secret.

He was going to get up and walk to his room but was stopped as someone grabbed his arm. He looked down and saw it as his sister. Her eyes were red and puffy with all the crying she did. When her parents told them what happened, she paid close attention and from the corner of her eye, she watched for her brother to react. It was hurting her to know that his brother been lied to since the beginning of his life but she knew how much it was hurting her father and mother that they had to do this.

She looked up at her, letting her tears fall freely. "Oniisan, please forgive otousan and okaasan. They wanted to help the village and protect everyone. It doesn't matter what is sealed inside of you because that's not you. You're my big brother that protects me when I see something scary in my closet or when someone picks on me at school and you're my brother that helps any of your class mates when they need help. Please, don't be angry." She got up and hugged him closely. Naruto returned the hug as the cried in each other. Wordlessly, Kushina and Minato got up and hugged their children. They stayed like that, neither of them talking until someone broke the silence.

"So I'm a hero?" Naruto asked, laughing to himself. Minato shook his head laughing while Kushina beamed at her son.

"Yes you are son, that why I love you and your sister." Kushina said, picking them both up and kissing them in the cheek. "Come, it's getting late. Time to go to bed."

They both groaned simultaneously as she carried them upstairs. Minato picked up the headband and kept it in his hands as Kushina went to tucked them in at night. He knew that his son went through a big step in his life, while the real test of life was about to begin.


	4. The Start as a Ninja

**A/N: I've stayed up and finally managed to finish the chapter. I also found a great beta! Thank you little ninja of awesome! Please review if you can! It would be very helpful! I won't set a quota of reviews for updates but I would really appreciate it! I'm just finishing the details and plot for this story and I think of having three books. One when they are ninja at a young age, another for when they are in war along with them developing into their life and clan and a final one for life afterwards with their significant other if they have one. **

**Also, if you have any request for something that you want in the chapter or the story, i would try my hardest to have it done if it's reasonable and goes along with what i have in mind. **

**I'll leave the other author note for others to know that I've already updated it. **

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**A/N: I am very sorry that I haven't updated in the longest time ever. I will update Legacy of a Namikaze every other week on Sunday. It could be during the morning or the afternoon. I also apologize for the author note. I know most people don't like reading them, but I just want to express my thought on the progress of the story. This is only part of the actual chapter. I am finishing it but I wanted to give you all something to read. I hope you like it! **

**P.S. The other part of the story will just be added onto this one. i don't want to make another chapter for it so check by Monday if this chapter got longer. Thank you for your patience!**

**Disclaimer: I don't not own Naruto! Well, at least not yet...**

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Chapter 4: The Start as a Ninja

Naruto couldn't sleep after his mom tucked him in. She placed him in his bed and tightly placed the blanket over him, tucking it under the mattress like she did when he would get scared, kissed his forehead and flicked the lights off before going to her room. He kept replaying what happened to him in the forest with Mizuki and what his parents told him. His mother was the former jinchuuriki of the nine-tails and was able to be happy. The first jinchuuriki said that the only way to suppress the darkness of the Kyuubi was to have love. Naruto already loved his mom, his dad and his little sister. He had developed a minor crush on his classmate Sakura but she had her eyes set on Sasuke, the teme.

Naruto threw the blanket off of him and jumped out of bed. He got his pillow and arranged them under the blanket to look like he was underneath sleeping. Satisfied, he opened his bedroom window and jumped out and landed perfectly on the ground without making a sound. He looked behind him at the view of his house and ran and kept running. The views of the Namikaze's gates got smaller and smaller to the point he couldn't see his house anymore.

He roamed the abandoned streets and was surprised how silent the village was. There was no sign of any lights turned on or the sound of any activities. There were few sounds of ninjas jumping on rooftops only to be returning to their house in the village. He wanted to go to the Hokage Monument and watch over the village with the twilight and the twinkling stars on top of his father's head. As he was heading to the monument to think about Iruka, he saw an indigo blur. He silently wished that it was not the night patrol. The Uchihas are quite creepy at night.

He blinked a few time and watched the blur that kept running forward. He walked faster and caught up to see the grey eyed girl. He only knew one grey-eyed girl, Hinata Hyuga. "Hey Hinata-chan" Naruto said glumly. She jumped at the sound of his voice and looked over her shoulder to see a sad looking Naruto. _Naruto-kun. _She wanted to talk to him but she knew better as she went limp, her head becoming lighter and fell forward. Naruto didn't know how to react but lunged forward. He reached forward and caught her in his arms and he felt something as his hand brushed over something round. He looked down and realized that he just accidently brushed his hand across Hinata's chest. He turned a bright shade of red and placed her on the ground, forgetting his initial thought to throw her on the ground from the accidental groping.

_Aw man! I just accidently went to second base with Hinata-chan! Oh kami, what have I done! Thank the gods that there is nobody here to see anything or I would be skinned alive by kaasan! I should just wait for ten minutes for her to wake up like Rin-chan said and make sure Hinata-chan doesn't know what I did!_

Naruto sat on the ground and patiently waited for Hinata to wake up. To make her a little more comfortable, he placed her head on his thigh and only hoped that she would wake up soon. He thought taking her to the hospital would make her stop fainting but he seemed to be wrong. He sighed tiredly and gazed at her. He knew that she had weird eyes but he always wanted to see them up close. He looked down and stared at her closed eyes, wondering if they could do cool things. He's heard many things from his family about her clan but never about the capabilities of their eyes, as well for the Uchihas.

Within ten minutes, Hinata began to gain consciousness. She remembered leaving the compound and headed to the special cemetery where her mother is buried. She blinked several times, sitting up when she felt someone behind her. She looked back and saw Naruto giving her a warm smile. _N-N-Naruto-kun! Oh, what have I done?_ She blushed deeply and tried to say something but she felt a lump on her throat as the dizziness left.

"Hinata-chan! You're okay! Don't scare me like that!" He pouted, getting up from the ground. She widened her eyes and blushed deeper from the cute pout Naruto was giving her. "Last time I saw you, you fainted and I took you to the hospital! Luckily Rin-chan was there to help you and told me if you fell, to wait ten minutes." He offered her his hand to lift her off the ground and she looked at it nervously before slowly reaching up and taking his hand with hers.

_Y-y-your hand is so warm_ she thought to herself as she looked at the ground quietly, avoiding looking at his bright blue eyes that made her knee go weak.

"Hinata-chan, what are you doing here late at night all by yourself? Shouldn't you be home?" Naruto asked, peering at her. Hinata jumped at the sound of his voice and flushed. She looked at her shoes, deciding on whether or not she should tell him. She knew that her father would want to improve with her stuttering now that she became genin and be a good heiress for the clan. As a member of the main family, she is not supposed to show any weakness especially in front of the branch family.

"I-I-I'm going to visit m-my mother's g-g-grave." Hinata whispered quietly, hoping that Naruto didn't hear her. She casted her eyes down and began to fiddle with her fingers. Despite what she wanted, Naruto heard her and frowned slightly. He never knew that Hinata's mom died or what her family was like. He wondered if they all had weird eyes with no pupil too. He would have to find that out. "T-T-Todays is her five year a-a-anniversary." She continued sadly.

"I'm sorry Hinata." Naruto said, pulling Hinata for a tight hug. Hinata was overwhelmed with his kindness as she fought to stay conscious. _Naruto-kun is hugging me, please don't faint._ She swallowed hard and felt tears fall down on her cheek. Naruto felt her go stiff and pulled back instantly.

"Hinata-chan, do you mind if I go with you to visit your mom? It wouldn't be right for you to be outside this late at the night all alone. If kaasan found out that I didn't help you out, I'll be dead." He shivered and gave her a cheeky smile.

Hinata's breathing hitched and her heart beat began to beat frantically. She felt her face turned a brighter shade of red, the veins in her face pumping more blood. She would never have thought that Namikaze Naruto would want to go anywhere with her because for the most part, he never acknowledged her presence much in class or noticed her around the academy.

_Naruto-kun is so nice. Maybe I'll make him some rice balls after we meet our jonin sensei. He's so kind and sweet. _ Hinata thought as she felt warm flowing through her body, smiling. "A-Arigato N-Naruto-kun. M-my mother's grave i-is in an s-special graveyard f-for my f-family. I-it's not far f-from here." She said, avoiding his gaze, mentally scolding herself that she was stuttering in front of him. She always dreamed of talking to Naruto but she never wanted to stutter, then he would surely think there was something wrong with her.

"Alright Hinata-chan, lead the way!" He yelled empathetically with a broad smile, walking with his hands behind his neck. His smile being contagious, Hinata smiled despite herself. She knew if she came alone, then she would be crying where to her mother's grave when talking about her clan and little sister. She was glad that she came across Naruto but she wondered what he was doing here.

"Hinata-chan, tell me about your mom. I hope she's a lot calmer than my mother." He looked tentatively at her. Naruto noticed some sadness in her eyes as Hinata began to speak. Naruto loved his mother no matter how scary she happened to be. She was always there to make him feel better along with his dad. He could not to begin to imagine what he would do if he lost his mom and wondered how Hinata managed.

Hinata gave him a brave smile and began talking about her mother. She never talked about her mother with anyone since her death, especially not with her father. Her mother without a doubt made life with her father great. Her smile would brighten and sweeten anyone's heart. Luckily, her Uncle Hizashi seemed to understand how she felt and made her father more lenient at times. Though Hizashi lost his wife as well, he coped with it rather gracefully. Instead of lashing out at his son or anyone, he focused on his only son Neji. He would train with him and occasionally invite her whenever he caught her watching them in the training grounds.

Naruto couldn't be more amazed at the white eyed Hyuga. She was so gentle and kind when speaking. She never spoke anything bad about anyone and when she spoke about her mother, she showed a lot of emotion behind every word, besides the stuttering. He had to keep tears from falling from his eyes as Hinata expressed her feelings towards her mom. He never knew her well and now he felt like he missed out what it was like to have a conversation with someone who doesn't just want to be closer to him because of his father.

He sighed contently as he walked home from her house. "Hinata-chan, she's a nice ninja. I hope we both do well tomorrow with our jonin sensei." He said to himself as he jumped over his house gates. He slowly crept up the stairs and headed for his room. He hid underneath the bed comforter and fell asleep.

* * *

"Miso ramen… with chasyu pork and negi… moyashi and hourensou and tamago and a side of spicy kakuni buns…. RAMEN…" He stirred in his bed as he tossed in his bed. "Chopsticks…eggs…" He groaned before waking up. He ran his hand through his hair and sat up. He looked around and laid down again groaning from the sunlight that peaked through his red curtain.

A soft knock came to the door. "Naruto, son. Today's the day to meet your jonin sensei." His mother called through the other side of the door as she placed her ear against the door. She heard nothing and looked around her shoulders inconspicuously and unlocked the door. She walked to her son and leaned close to his ear. "Naruto, please wake up. It's time to go to the academy to meet your jonin sensei." She whispered softly.

He smiled mischievously and sprung off his feet and got on his mom's back. She jumped up in surpriseand grinned. "Good morning Naruto. Let's go eat some breakfast. Today everyone that was promoted to genin will get to meet their jonin sensei, don't forget."

"Yes! Let's go mom!" He yelled out, probably waking up everyone in house. It was her turn to smile mischievously as she pumped chakra in her feet and dashed out of the room at full speed. He clung to his mother's dress and tried not to puke as he turned a light shade of green. Once she stopped, he got off her back wobbly and tried to stand up straight. She smirked down at him and he gave half a smile at the attempt to stand straighter.

"Good morning niisan, kaasan!" Kiyomi yelled out energetically as Minato served breakfast. Naruto gave her a cheeky grin and sat down next to her. While she waited for their father and mother to serve the food, Naruto managed to poke his sister. She glared at him while he looked at the corner of the room with great interest.

With his food placed in front of him, Naruto leaned in and took a big whiff of the smell. He mouth watered instantly at the smell of steamed rice, natto with a good amount of soy sauce, tamagoyaki along with grated daikon radish. He instantly looked for the nori and sighed as if he were in heaven. He reached for his chopsticks, and then looked around sheepishly, almost forgetting that he was not alone.

He scratched the back of his head and laughed embarrassedly. "Good morning otousan, kaasan. Ready to eat?"

Minato chuckled at his son, ruffling his hair slightly. "You can start eating son. Don't mind us." He grinned as he sat across from his wife and next to Naruto. With approval, Naruto dipped his nori in soy sauce and ate at great speed. A blur of orange was all to be seen until a glass of orange juice hit the table counter rather loudly.

Kushina's eyebrow twitched as she fought to restrain herself from bashing her son's head against the table for his bad manners. "Done!" He yelled out proudly. He jumped out of his seat and headed to the window. "Bye dad, mom, Kiyo-chan! See ya later! Don't want to be late." He yelled out before jumping out. Minato chuckled at the last statement and kept to himself as Kushina got angry.

"Naruto!" Kushina yelled as she got out of his seat. She sighed as she watched him leave. "I guess I'll go get _him _up." She complained. Minato walked over his wife and planted a light kiss on her lips. "I'm going to go to the office. I'll drop off Kiyo-chan on my way while you go to the academy."

Kiyomi looked at her parents confusedly. "Why is kaasan going to the academy?" She asked her dad. He smiled kindly and grabbed her hand. "I'll tell you on the way. Say goodbye to your mom." Kiyomi nodded and hugged her mom and reached for her dad's hand, beaming instantly.

* * *

Naruto got to the academy a little late since he took a little detour. After he finally was able to get something out of the Hyuga heiress last night, he was able to understand her a little better and felt a little sad for what she went through. He made a stop at the Yamanka Flower Shop to buy some white roses. He came out of the store blushing furiously when Mrs. Yamanka commented on him getting flowers for his little girlfriend. He was nowhere near getting a girlfriend and getting flowers seemed quite stupid to him. Naruto stopped at the grave at Hinata's mother and read the tombstone. He didn't want to cross a line of respect so he gently placed the flowers down and hurried to the academy.

He walked in the class with his arms at the back of his head and looked around. "Where's Iruka-sensei?" He asked no one in particular as he walked down the aisle. He noticed a familiar indigo haired girl and sat next to her. "Hey Hinata-chan!" He said while he ignored the constant chatter of the class and his fan girls.

The blue haired girl turned beet red. She looked next to her and saw the blonde haired boy from last night. She was about to say something when a book was slammed on the desk. Everyone looked up and the chatter stopped. All eyes were focused on the red haired shinobi in front of the class room. She sighed out of relief that she didn't faint.

"Good morning class. For today, I will assign you to your genin team since your sensei Iruka was wounded yesterday by unfortunate events." Kushina said politely as she looked at the group of kids.

"Aw come on!" Yelled out Naruto. "Why today!" He complained. Kushina glared at her son and he closed his mouth and looked out the window with a little scowl on his face. The class laughed but then stopped when she cleared her throat.

"Three of you will be assigned to a jonin sensei and from the beginning from today, you will be following under their rules and begin doing missions _if_ you are allowed. Most importantly, you are now considered adults. I will read off the names of the teams only once so you all better listen! I won't repeat myself!" She said as she looked down at the list of name.

She read off the first six teams and smiled inwardly as the students restrained themselves from complaining or yelling out in outrage which would only annoy her. She finally came to team seven and tried not to smile too much as she was about to read out the names. She always wanted this day to happen. "Team 7 will consist of Haruno Sakura Namikaze Naruto…" Naruto jumped up from his chair, yelling 'yes' but stopped when his mom continued "And Uchiha Sasuke."

Naruto cast a looked at Sakura and smiled at her while she looked to her right dreamily. Pink little hearts started to make their way to Sasuke as Sakura continued to bat her eyes at him. It took Naruto a second to realize who his other teammate was, and then he jumped out of his seat and yelled out. "What! I don't want to be in the same team as the teme! He'll ruin everything!"

"What makes you think I want to be in the same team as you too, dobe?" Sasuke said with mild interest. He personally had no complaints but worried about the decision the Hokage made. He waited for him to respond but smirked when Naruto's mom bashed her son on the head followed by her calling him a baka and telling him off for being rude.

Sakura was overwhelmed with joy as she looked at Uchiha and blushed with a slight squeal. **Cha!** **Yes! Take that Ino-pig! I got to be with Sasuke while you're not! We can finally be together!** Inner Sakura screamed as she locked eyes with Ino and stuck her tongue out at her childishly. Ino put her head down on the table and groaned loudly. "What's the matter with you Ino?" A boy asked, enjoying himself. He had pineapple shaped hair and looked at her smugly.

"Shut up Shikamaru! Ugh, I so don't want to be on the same team as you!" She screeched as she glared at him under her long blonde bangs. Her eyes quickly scanned the room and looked at who the remaining people were . _ As long as I don't get bug boy, food boy or picks his nose boy, then I am good. Oh kami, why couldn't I be with Sasuke-kun_ She thought as she buried her face in her arms.

"Now Team 8. Team 8 will be Aburame Shino, Hyuga Hinata, and Inuzuka Kiba with Akamaru." Hinata put her head down and began to fiddle with her fingers._I-I didn't get in the same team as N-Naruto-kun… Well maybe we could have m-missions t-together._

"Team 9 was already taken so there's one more. Team 10. It will be consisted of Akimichi Choji, Nara Shikamaru, and Yamanka Ino. Your jonin sensei will come to pick you up right after lunch. Dismissed!" Kushina said as she sat on Iuka's chair.

"Didn't you say something about not being on the same team as me?" Shikamaru said laughing. Ino cursed under her breath and glared at Shikamaru and Choji. _Food boy didn't even look back or anything! Why did I get stuck with the two laziest people! I'm going to have to take charge… _

"Choji, Shikamaru, follow me so we can get to know each other but I'll tell you one thing. You will both have to listen to me" Ino stated as she walked out of the classroom while her two teammates looked after her confused and annoyed.

Naruto shivered as he was glad he wasn't put in the same team as Ino. She could get scary when you messed with her. He preferred to have Sasuke-teme to be on his team than her, he could handle a few pranks.

He groaned annoyed and began to bang his head on the desk. The others teams went out to eat lunch together while he sat here with his team. Sasuke took out his lunch and began to eat his sandwich, avoiding his fan girls. Normally, Naruto would be here alone with him eating their lunch together while Iruka read a book but Sakura stayed. He smirked and looked at her. She was busy eating her food and staring at Sasuke while she completely ignored him. She was probably here to flirt with Sasuke or make a good impression. He smiled impishly and slowly crept towards her.

Kushina, who sat at the desk of Iruka, raised her eyebrow as she watched her son. He was tip toeing to the pink haired girl. Kushina could only begin to imagine what was going to happen to her son. She just hoped that the girl was not going to take any abuse from Naruto.

As if Sakura heard Kushina, she turned around and found Naruto right behind her. "Naruto!" She yelled out in surprise before she punched him in the jaw. Naruto flew back and yelled out in pain. Sasuke, who caught Naruto from the corner of his eye, chuckled and resumed eating his lunch made by his mother. Kushina laughed for a while only to stop shortly.

She was getting annoyed of the lateness of the jonin. She made a mental note to make sure that the certain someone _does _get here on time or else. She smiled darkly as she cracked her knuckles. She stood up from the chair with three pair of eyes following her as she went to the door. "I'm going to go check on your sensei. I'll be right back."

"This guy is _so _going to get it." Naruto giggled happily as he smiled. He walked back to his seat and tapping his fingers against the desk.

"Why?" Sasuke asked coolly. He put his hands to his face as he tried to have an unfazed look. He was kind of annoyed at how late their jonin sensei was. Lunch was over more than five minutes ago. He knew that most jonin were never late and they were very prompt.

"My mom doesn't like to wait. She gets too impatient and when that happens, oh bloody hell breaks loose."

"You must be exaggerating Naruto. You mother doesn't seem like that. She's calm and collected" Sakura defended. Both boys raised their eyebrows at her with a look of question. Sakura frowned and sat back down next to Sasuke who had a look of amusement.

"Yo!" a deep voice spoke suddenly from a puff of smoke. The team had a look of shook, especially Naruto as nostalgia hit him with the uniqueness of the man. He had spiky gray hair that seemed to defy gravity, dark eyes with the left eye covered by his forehead protector tilted to left. He wore a mask that obscures the lower half of his face with a glint in his visible eye.

His eye closed as he spoke. "I'm your jonin sensei. Meet me at the rooftop." With that, he disappeared leaving behind a puff of smoke like when he came in. Quickly, the genin gathered around the roof top and sat on the floor.

"Let's start off by introducing yourself. I already know one of you but I'm not sure about the other two." The jonin said with a peak of interest.

"Um…sensei. Can you explain what exactly you want to know?" The pinkette Sakura asked as she looked at her new sensei closely.

"How about your name, likes and dislikes and your dreams." He said lazily as he leaned against the railing that was around the rooftop. He had a sudden interest to turn around and gaze and the village but thought it would be rude to his students, especially since he barely met them.

"Can you give us an example?" Sakura requested sweetly as she smiled at her sensei before she looked at her two other teammates who look indifferent. Naruto thought that they would have already gone down to the Hokage office and received a mission. He hoped that nobody else got any of the good ones. Sasuke, on the other hand was thinking about his brothers. His older brother Itachi seemed to be very busy now and spent less time training with him and Akihiko.

"Alright. My name is Hatake Kakashi. My likes and dislikes are none of your business. As for my dreams, that is personal." He said in a monotone voice, wondering if he would get a reaction from his new team. Sakura groaned and he barely caught Sasuke's eyebrow twitch in annoyance.

Naruto couldn't help it as he burst out laughing. He startled both Sakura and Sasuke as he received a weird look from Kakashi. "Man, you're funny. If he won't tell you anything about himself, then I will. He likes one of my favorite people in the world, Rin-chan. They have been dating for a while," He giggled slightly. "He dislikes when my mother scolds him, especially in front of Rin-chan. His dreams, huh. I don't know that one." He ended with a pensive look.

Sakura had a huge knowing smile on her face when she faced her sensei and giggled slightly. Kakashi mentally groaned and wished that he could throw Naruto off the roof top. Though, the building was not that tall so he wouldn't get hurt, but that wouldn't matter to Kushina. Once you angered her, there's no telling what she would do. Kakashi sweat dropped and cleared his throat. "Naruto, since you've decided to reveal information about me, then it is your turn."

"Alright then. They know who I am anyways. My name is Namikaze Naruto! My likes are ramen, and being around my mom, dad and little sister. My dislikes are when my kaasan tries to force me to read more books when we already agreed to read for an hour. My dream is to become Hokage and surpass both my mom and dad! Believe it!" Naruto yelled proudly with a huge grin.

Kakashi had knowing smile under his mask as he nodded to the girl in the middle to begin.

"My name is Haruno Sakura. My likes are," She looked at both Sasuke and Naruto as she giggled quietly and hid her lower face with her hands, covering her dark crimson blush. Kakashi sighed to himself as she continued. "My dislikes… I don't think I have any. My dream is to be one of the best kunochi there is in Konoha."

"Good. You in the corner."

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke. My likes are training with my brothers, learning our clan's jutsu and training with my father. My dislikes are annoying fan girls who keep asking me out on dates. My dream is to take over the police force from my father and become an excellent shinobi."

"You guys are an interesting team. Well tomorrow, you are going to have another test to see whether or not you are capable of being good ninjas. Meet me at training ground three at the crack of dawn. Word of advice, don't eat anything. You might puke." With that said, he left leaving behind no trace of him.

"Aw come on! That is not fair! I'm going to have to work harder with okaasan then. I'll see you guys later!" Naruto said as he began walking to the other side of the village.

"Bye" Sakura said sadly. She glanced at Sasuke and saw that he was going home. "Are you leaving too?" She called out to him. **Come on Sakura! You can do this! Get him to talk back to you and then you can invite him to have some lunch or dinner. **Inner Sakura yelled out as she dreamily stared at Sasuke.

He was silent for a moment before he replied. "Yeah. I promised my younger brother Akihiko that I would train with him." He said as he stopped to look back at her.

"Oh, well…um see you tomorrow Sasuke-kun! Sleep well!" She yelled out before she ran down the path to her house. **You had to be that awkward with the pregnant silence. **Inner Sakura said annoyed.

_Well it's not like I could have invited myself to the Uchiha Compound to just watch him train with his little brother._

**You should have batted your eyes at him and sweetly said: "Sasuke-kun, do you mind if I come watch you train? I would _love_ it if I could" as you look up and to meet his gaze slowly. ** Inner Sakura said dreamily.

_You've been watching too much TV._ She told herself.

* * *

"Kaasan! I don't want to do chakra exercises! They are boring! I want to learn how to do cool ninjustu like you did against Mizuki with the cool water dragon." Naruto complained as he laid on the floor with many leaves scattered around him.

"Naruto, before you are able to perform and master any jutsu, you need to have good chakra control, molding and concentration. Let's first focus back onto control. Try to climb that tree over there." Kushina said as she pointed to the tallest tree in their compound. She wanted to laugh at the look Naruto had on his face but decided against it. He had come running after meeting his sensei and demanded to be taught something. He had such a determined look, she couldn't say no.

"It's huge! How does climbing the tree help with my chakra control?" Naruto asked as he scratched his cheek. He looked at the top of the tree and almost flinched. The tree was about 30 feet tall.

"You are not supposed to use your hands, just your feet and a kunai to mark any progress. Watch me." She explained. She walked straight to the tree and placed her feet flat on the tree bark as she continued to walk. She made it to the top of the tree and walked under a large branch. "You are supposed to gather chakra at the bottoms of the feet, and then walk up a tree as if it were the ground. If you were to gather too much chakra you would break the tree and be thrown in the opposite direction. With too little chakra, you will also fall. However, with the correct amount then you will actually stick to the tree. The more chakra control you have, the more you would be able to fluently master most jutsu" Kushina explained as she gazed at her son upside down. "The longer time you stay on the tree, the more control you have. It could also help with your reserve of chakra, though you don't need help on that."

Naruto had an unconvinced pout as he stared at the tree. He could easily climb the tree and come back down in less than two minutes, but with no hands? "Okay. So when I'm about to fly away from the tree, I mark the tree with the kunai?" He asked carefully as he took one out of his pouch. She nodded and gracefully landed on the ground next to him.

"Don't worry. Once you are able to control your chakra, your dad and I will teach you our special jutsu we have in our clan."

Naruto quickly looked back his mother. "Really? Like what? Oh, Hiraishin?" He questioned giddily. "What about the-"

"Naruto," She cut him off. "You need to take your chakra training seriously. You will have more difficulty controlling the abundant chakra you have. Before you start dreaming about the 'cool jutsu' that are passed down through our clan, you need practice." Kushina lectured.

Naruto nodded and turned to the tree. He took a deep breath and charged at the tree and stepped his foot on the bark of the tree only to be pushed back. Quickly, he slashed the tip of the kunai on the tree as he kneeled at the ground. He growled in frustration. He thought he would have gone farther than _that _on the first try.

"Don't give up Naruto. I know you can do it. If you need any help, I'll be meditating." Kushina encouraged. She smiled at his determination to learn and went to sit under a cherry blossom. She sighed and cleared her thoughts as she regulated her breathing.

Few Hours Later

Naruto stood panting as he stared at the tree. The tree's bark had multiple lines that marked his progress. He was really impressed with himself that he got half way up the tree. Out of breath, he put his hands on his knees and had his head down. He felt the beads of sweat dripping from his forehead. He could feel his heart pumping in his ribcage and let out a final breath and stood up.

He looked at his mom and her eyes snapped open automatically. She got up and inspected the tree. "Good job Naruto. With more training, you'll be up at the top of the tree in no time!" She placed her hand on his shoulder and led them into the house. "Come one. You must be starving. Let me make you a snack."

"Can it be ramen?" He asked, giving her the best puppy eye look he could muster. His body ached from the falls he had in the beginning. He was exhausted, but not drained. He just hoped that his mom understood and would let him eat some without him trying to eat it in secret.

"Naruto it's not always good for you! You should eat it once in a while. How about I make you some miso kukkii [1]?" She offered as she looked through one of the cabinets.

"Fine. Oh, I forgot to ask, where is Kiyo-chan? I haven't seen her since this morning." Naruto scratched his cheek as he watched her gather the needed ingredients.

"She went to her room and took a nap. She stayed up pretty late and couldn't sleep that well. She came in our room and asked if she could sleep with your father and me." She said as she mixed the beaten eggs with flour and almonds. "Can you go and check on her?"

"Sure" He said as he raced up the stairs. He walked up the second floor. He stopped in front of her door and knocked three times followed by two slow knocks. "Come in niisan!" She yelled out.

"Hey Kiyo-chan! So how was the academy? Learn anything knew?" Naruto questioned as he sat on her bed and leaned against a large stuffed animal of a maneki-neko [2].

She chuckled quietly. "Mr. Hotshot, proud of being genin? I would be. At the academy, we were finishing up about the Legendary Sanin and sensei also talked about Hatake Sakumo. They sound like such great shinobi. Tsunade-chan is so strong! She's a great medical ninja too!" Kiyomi gushed at the excellence of her god mother. She was glad that she was Tsunade's god daughter; she couldn't wait to ask her if she can train her.

"Psst. Jiraiya is stronger than Tsunade! He's also a seal master! He comes to visit more often than Tsunade-chan!" He defended.

"Ojisan has fewer things to do than Tsunade-chan!" She retorted as she cross her arms in front of her.

"We've reached an impasse. Let's go eat some miso kukkii. Kaasan should have them ready now." Naruto said, pleased with the bickering they had. Most would think that he was weird for enjoying someone arguing with him but he saw it as a good sign. Naruto didn't want to force his sister to talk to him. Eventually she would turn to him or their parents. Their bickering just confirmed that Kiyomi doesn't think that he's any different even with the Kyuubi sealed inside of him.

He frowned at the thought of the Kyuubi and shook his headed down the stairs. Kiyomi gave him an expectant look. "What?"

"Will you take me to Akihiko's house? I promised him that I would train with him." Kiyomi asked.

"Why would I want to do that? I don't want to see the teme more than I have to." Naruto stated as if his sister should have known better.

"Please! I don't want to look bad if I don't show up. Besides, Mikoto-chan hasn't seen you in a while." She reasoned, bringing his godmother into the argument. He hadn't seen her since he stormed out of the Uchiha's compound. Now that she thinks about it, he never told anyone what happened. He just said nothing and changed the topic quickly.

"I'll take you if you buy me some ramen." He said casually as he walked through the kitchen and got a whiff of the delicious snack.

She scowled but nodded her head. She sat next to her brother as Kushina placed a plate full of miso kukkii in front of them. "Kaasan, can Naruto and I go visit Aunt Mikoto? I want to train with Akihito."

"I guess you can. You have to get here by dinner though. I don't want you guys out late." Kushina agreed as she sat with her children. "Is there anything specific you are going to do?" She reached for a miso kukkii and took a bite.

"Well, since Naruto-niisan is coming, I hope that he'll train with us. Akihito-kun always brags about Itachi-kun and Sasuke-kun. I just want to show them that niisan is really good too." Kiyomi explained. She understood why Akihito bragged about his brother Itachi. Everyone knew that Itachi was one of the best shinobi to be born in their time. He graduated from the academy at the age of 7 and became chunin at 10 years old. Beside his ninja abilities, he was a really sweet and calm person.

"The teme is not that great. I beat him when we sparred in the academy. He's such a sore loser! I won and he wouldn't talk to anyone for the rest of the day. He's just a big baby." Naruto expressed, annoyed. He didn't like it when Kiyomi talked about the Uchiha. Sure, they were great but they were no Namikaze! He just needed to find a way to show his sister. "Come on Kiyo-chan. Don't you want to go visit Akihiko?"

"Bye kaasan!" They yelled out before they left. Kushina shook her head and took another bite at the miso kukkii.

"Niisan, you never told me what was in the scroll. Was there any cool jutsu?" Kiyomi excitedly look at her brother.

Naruto smugly looked at her sister before he formed a sly smirk. "Well sadly, I only learned two techniques. One of them was created by the Shodai Hokage. It's Taju Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. It makes an actual solid clone of the user. It's really hard to master yet I managed to learn it. The other one is Bunshin Daibakuha. It's a good combination to know." He explained.

"Who created Bunshin Daibakuha? Was it the Shodai Hokage too?" She asked beaming at her brother. _Niisan is so cool! He learned a technique made by the Shodai Hokage! He helped found the village! He's so strong and intelligent! _

Naruto sweat dropped. _I can't say that it was Itachi. She would only think that the Uchiha _are_ powerful… _"I don't know. It didn't say." He answered coolly, shoving his hands in his pockets. He stared at the road and began to see the gates of the Uchiha's compound.

"Can you tell me why it's a good combination?"

"Well since the clone is solid, not an illusion or anything, it has its advantages. You can do multiple things at once and _you_ can do jutsu. I think. Bunshin Daibakuha is just exploding the clones and the explosion is really big. Let's say that if my clone encounters an enemy, I can explode my clone and hurt the enemy. A win-win situation if you ask me." He explained as he imagined it visually in his mind.

"Would you show Akihiko and me later?" Kiyomi asked as she eagerly waved at the guard of the Uchiha compound. She led him into the large compound and headed to a largest house of them all.

"I guess I could show after you train with Akihiko. First, I have to see Mikoto-chan. I need to apologize to her." He suggested as he recognized the house.

Unlike the Namikaze's home, the Uchiha homes were long and were traditional. The shingles of the roof were a deep shade of violet while the cement walls were pale white. The Uchiha fan was decorated in the lanterns that hang from the light poles as well from flags that were adorned in the houses.

With Kiyomi behind him, he gingerly knocked at the door and called out, "Mikoto-chan, it's me Naruto and Kiyomi!"

Surprised, Mikoto ran to the door and opened it wide. She had a big smile as she pulled Naruto in for a hug. "Naruto! It's been a while. You've grown so much!" She pulled back and smiled kindly at him and Kiyomi. She missed when Naruto would come and visit her. He always made her laugh and he reminded her so much of Kushina.

"Hello Mikoto-san! Is Akihiko-kun already waiting for me?" Kiyomi asked as she noticed her aunt happier and youthful.

"Yes dear. He's been complaining that you were late and went out back with Sasuke." She answered with a little laugh as she led them to the back to a patio. Kiyomi saw both young Uchiha and ran to them. "So Naruto, how are you?" She asked warmly as they both sat on a wooden bench that faced the trees.

Naruto blushed from the attention he was getting from his god-mother. He would not have thought that she missed him and smiled guiltily. "I've been great! I pulled a great prank on otousan before becoming genin. Kaasan got a kick out of it." He giggled as he remembered how his dad reacted seeing himself with ruby red hair. Priceless.

Mikoto laughed at his antics. "Naruto, I heard from Sasuke that you did make it to genin after all. What did he mean?" She asked up front. She knew that Naruto was coming along as a great ninja. No matter how little Sasuke like to admit it, he knew that Naruto was his match and proved that whenever Iruka would have them parried off to spar

"Well… there wasn't a way for me to do the academy clone correctly at the time but now I can! I can make a solid one." He offered lamely. He wasn't sure how to answer her. She had expectations for him and he knew it. He liked it but he also didn't want her to worry.

Mikoto wasn't surprised that he mastered the technique of the first Hokage. He was the son of the Konoha's Yellow Flash and Red Hot Habanero after all. She giggled and with a glint in her eye as a thought came to mind. "Naruto, say, how are you doing in the department of finding a girlfriend? I've seen that you have a lot of admirers. Especially one that your mom and I think is cute for you."

Naruto blushed and shook his head profoundly. "Eh! I'm barely 12 for kami's sake!" He cried out as he cringed.

"Well technically you are an adult already and as I told Sasuke-"

"Mikoto-chan, don't worry about me. I kind of have a crush on Sakura but it's not like I would ask her out or anything!" He clarified.

"If you insist Naruto. Go, I bet Akihiko wants you to train with them too." She winked at him and ruffled his hair before she walked back to the house.

Naruto pouted slightly and walked over to his sister and the two Uchiha boys. "Hey teme, Akihiko!" He greeted.

Sasuke glared at him and focused at the match going on. Akihiko and Kiyomi had a heated argument about who was better in taijutsu and ended up in a battle because of the suggestion Sasuke made. Sasuke wanted to tell them both that neither of them had much training in taijutsu but thought that it would only anger them both.

Akihiko was on the offense. He was throwing punching at a visible speed which made it easier for Kiyomi to block. She saw incoming punch directed at her face and stopped it with her wrist as she flung his arm down and took advantage as she kicked him in ribs. He groaned in pain and jumped back.

"Are you going to give up?" Akihiko said as he grabbed his rib. He was starting to get tired but didn't want to acknowledge that she was better at him in taijutsu. Especially not in front of Sasuke, he wouldn't let him live it down.

"How long has this been going on?" Naruto asked Sasuke as he looked at his sister interested.

"For a good ten minutes. They both started out strong but your sister seems to have more of advantage. It seems like she really good actually." He commented on the speed she was moving.

"No!" She yelled as she leaped forward and began to lash out. She had a combo of kicks and punches that was a slight blur. She narrowed her eyes as Akihiko blocked her kicks with his hands and went back to punching. She landed a few in his stomach. She was mad that he doubted her abilities and she was not going to let him insult her as a girl nor as a shinobi. She was glad that she asked her mom to train in her taijutsu as she felt Akihiko's defense break. She smiled at an easy opening as she sent a spinning kick at his feet.

He fell on the ground and groaned aloud. "Kiyomi!"

With a smug smile, she looked down at him in triumph. "My mom taught me the leaf gale. I saw an opening and I took it. So admit it, I am better than you in taijutsu." She batted her eyes at him before walking to Naruto and Sasuke.

Akihiko sat up and glared at her. "You've been training with your mom? That's not fair. I've mostly been focusing in ninjutsu. I bet you I can beat you in a ninjutsu battle."

"Hey now. Just because you were beaten, doesn't mean you are less. I always get beaten when I spar with kaasan. She doesn't even fight me with a tenth of her strength. It only makes sense she's better than you when kaasan training her." Naruto defended. The friendly competition was fun only until someone got hurt.

"It's understandable Akihiko. The dobe is right. We've trained in taijutsu but her mother is one of the best there is. Just don't tell dad you lost to a girl" Sasuke snickered at the last part. Naruto and Kiyomi couldn't help but to laugh along with the look of terror Akihiko had.

He grumbled something under his breath before he tried to get the spotlight off of him. "So Naruto, Kiyo-chan says that you can do a jutsu that the first Hokage created. Can you show us?"

Naruto looked surprise from the sudden change in Akihiko but smiled. "Sure. Stand back. I can make a lot of them." They all took big steps back as Naruto went through the signs, ram, serpent, and tiger as hundreds of Narutos appearing the field.

With the increase of chakra signature, the rest of the Uchiha came out of the house only to be shocked. Itachi came out followed by Fugaku and Mikoto to see the vast amount of Naruto in their yard. Some of them were pushing each other and throwing insults while some were on top of each other.

Itachi's eyes widened but he smiled. Minato-sama made a comment that Naruto learned one of his jutsu. When he said that, it puzzled him but now that he sees what he learned, he had an idea what the Hokage was talking about.

"When you said that you can make a Shadow Clone, I thought you only meant like two. Naruto!" Mikoto said worriedly as she gazed at all of the Narutos. Fugaku was captivated by the amount of clones the boy managed to make. Normally, jonins were able to perform such jutsu with the requirement of a lot of chakra that was evenly distributed among the clones.

"That's really impressive Naruto. I bet you know a great cooperative jutsu along with it." Itachi commented with a knowing glint in his eyes. He nodded at them and headed back into the house with his father and mother behind.

Naruto laughed nervously and looked at her sister. "Come on Kiyo-chan! It's getting late and kaasan doesn't like it when we are late." Naruto signaled her leave.

"Bye Sasuke-kun, Akihiko-kun! It was fun training with you guys! You won't be so lucky next time Akihiko!" Kiyomi called out as she waved to them in a final goodbye. They excused themselves from the other Uchiha before they left back to the Namikaze complex.

Naruto had a bright smile and couldn't wait until tomorrow.

* * *

**[1] Miso kukki is a nutritional and delicious snack that's main ingredient would be miso.  
**

**[2] Maneki-neko is a common Japanese figurine that is considered along with good luck. **


	5. Pass or Fail Will I make it as a Ninja?

**AN: I hope that you like this chapter. I made it longer than usual and I would appreciate it if you review! No pressure though. :D I have to say that there will be confusion with relationship between the characters such as with Sasuke and Kushina and Minato but that will be explain later. I warn you now so you can wait patiently. Thank you!**

**Disclaimer:**** I do NOT own Naruto! Kishimoto does and I love the fact that he does. All I own is new characters and plot!**

* * *

Chapter 5: Pass or Fail; Will I make it as a Ninja?

The hyperactive ninja was running around in a blur. His breathing was elevated as he rummaged under some clothing lying around the room. _Oh Kami, where did I leave it? _He thought frantically as he couldn't find it anywhere he looked. He had half a mind to make a few shadow clones and send them off to find it but he didn't want everyone to know that he lost it. _How could I lose my headband! I took it off after I came up stairs! I put in my nightstand drawer!_

He almost wanted to weep at the anticipation of finding his headband. It wasn't every day when a shinobi loses their headband. He knew that no one came up to his room. He groaned and ran his hand through his messy blonde hair. On the day where he had another test to do, he lost his headband! If his kaasan was in here, she would blame him for having such a messy room and not bothering to clean it.

Ram, serpent, and tiger he signed as three Narutos appeared. "You guys, I lost my headband and I need you guys to look around my room to find it before everyone wakes up!" He whispered urgently to them.

They all nodded their heads before heading in different directions. The room was relatively large and was very spacious. A thick red velvet curtain hanged, obscuring the wide large windows. The bed was centered at the far right. The head board and the brace were made from maple tree and was coated a dark color of brown. Beside the twin sized bed was same colored nightstand where the said headband was placed. A huge desk was placed in the far left side, against the wall. His drawer wasn't far behind as it was on the opposite side of the desk. Scattered on floor were few article of clothing along with empty instant ramen cups.

The Naruto clones didn't know what to do with the articles of clothing so they decided to pile them in the middle. The original Naruto looked out the window and saw that it was still dark out. He only had a limited amount of time to get ready before he had to meet his team and jonin sensei in training ground 3. He stared out of the window for a little while longer until her heard glass shattering. He whipped his head in that direction to see one of his clones smiling sheepishly at him, scratching his head. On the floor was his lamp broken.

He groaned tiredly and looked at him with slight anger. _How can the clone be so stupid! _He thought as he cornered his clone. He was about to pounce on him when he heard footstep in the hallway. He froze and looked at the door, hoping that it was just his mom making breakfast for dad. He waited until he heard nothing, silence, letting out his breath when his door was opened widely.

There stood his eight year old sister with a sleepy look on her face. She wiped her eyes and looked at her brother curiously. "Nissan, what are you doing?" She asked as she yawned, stretching her arms.

"I can't find my headband! Kiyo-chan, have you seen it anywhere?" He asked as he turned his attention to his sleepy little sister who still seemed to be stuck on staying awake or going to sleep.

"Well…" She began as she drifted her eyes to the floor. "What if I told you that someone, who will remain nameless, got her brother's headband to see how she looks like as an official ninja?" She said nervously as she started to be more alert.

"I'm not worry about that but I really need it Kiyo-chan! I have another exam and I need to have my headband. Go fetch it and bring it here while I change." He ordered as he overlooked the cause of his almost heart attack.

She nodded her head and dashed down the hall to her room. Naruto sighed in relief and went to his drawer to find another outfit. Lucky for him, Kushina did take him out to buy new clothes. She personally made sure that none of the clothes had orange as he had a whole wardrobe with the bright color. He picked out his dark black pants that went down to his ankles and a long sleeved blue shirt where at the sides was the Uzamaki Clan symbol. In the cuff, the clan symbol of the Namikaze. He giggled a little but shook his head. He didn't have time to make some jokes. He had a test to pass!

He popped his clones and went to the door and closed it. He quickly changed and put on his shinobi sandals. He grabbed his kunai and shuriken holster and strapped one on his leg and the other one on his waist. He took a quick glance at his room before he walked down the hall. Kiyomi came out of her room running and stopped in front of Naruto, handing him his headband.

Naruto grinned and tied it on his forehead. "Bye Kiyomi! Tell otousan and kaasan that I had to leave for my test with Kakashi-sensei!" He yelled out as he ran down the flight of stairs and out the door. His only hope was not to be late. He knew he wouldn't live it down by Sakura or Sasuke.

He ran past a few villagers that were awake, muttering apologies when he brushed against them. He could almost see the training ground, and he felt so excited. He knew that nothing would be able to bring him down with the encouragement from his parents and sister he received last night. "Watch out you guys because I will kick ass! Believe it!" He yelled.

He saw his two teammates and slowed his pace to a casual walk. Both Sasuke and Sakura seemed to have arrived as they had a neutral look on their faces as the stared at different direction of the training ground. "Sakura-chan, Sasuke-teme! Hey!" He called as he neared them.

"Ohayōgozaimasu Naru-" Sakura welcomed as she turned to glance at him. She instantly blushed and looked away. _Is that Naruto-kun! Nani! I could hardly recognize him without his orange jumpsuit. He looks so much like the Yondaime Hokage! _ Inner Sakura smirked. **Shannaro! We get to be in the same team with these cute boys! Kawaii! **She squealed as she then glanced at Sasuke, blushing even more.

Sasuke smirked at Naruto and nodded his head in his direction. The resemblance to the Hokage is indistinguishable. _Seems like the dobe is actually taking this seriously. _ Sasuke thought as he looked back at the trees.

"Where's Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked as he looked around the training ground. His teammates shrugged and stayed in silence. He sighed as stuffed his hands in his pockets.

They all waited for Kakashi to arrive. The sky used to be purple but started to turn to a light shade of blue as the sun already rose. Sakura got tired of standing and sat on the ground with her elbows on her thigh. Sasuke stayed standing while the impatient one couldn't keep still. He'd been pacing around them for a while now and it was driving Sasuke insane.

"Will you stop it Naruto!" Sasuke said annoyed as his eyebrow twitched a little.

"It's not my fault sensei is late! Jeez, take out your anger when he gets here." He retorted as he crossed his arms.

"You guys don't fight now. Sensei must have a good reason why he is late." Sakura eased in, hoping to lighten the mood. Both male genin glared at her and she looked down to the ground. _Come on sensei!_

Few Hours Later

"Yo" A gray haired jonin said as he appeared with a gush of wind.

"YOU'RE LATE!" Sakura and Naruto yelled out, pointing with accusations in their eyes.

"Well, you see. As I was walking here, a black cat walked in front of me and…" He stopped and tilted his head to a side, in thought. He shook his head and began. "Well, I forgot to tell you yesterday but this test is really important. Only 9 of you guys will pass to be ninjas. The other 18 will be sent back to the academy. In other words, this test will be really difficult with a dropout rate of 66%."

"What! You didn't tell us that yesterday!" Naruto complained. He didn't like the odds of passing and by the looks of Sasuke and Sakura, they didn't like it either. They had both a frown with look of depression.

"Then sensei, what was the point of the final exam we took?" Sakura asked slightly terrified. She didn't want to go back to the academy. They finally made it and there was sure no way in hell was she going back to start reading more from the text book!

"The purpose of the final exam was to see who qualified to become genin. Usually the loud ones are the one that fails or the one with least experience." He explained as Sakura and Naruto flushed from the comment.

"Let's move on." He cleared his throat as he took out a clock and placed it on the tree stump. "This alarm clock is set to 12 PM. Your goal today is to take away one of these bells from me. Whoever fails to retrieve a bell from me won't get lunch. I'm going to tie you on the tree stump and eat my lunch in front of you." He explained cheerfully as he held out two bells on a red string.

_So that's why he didn't want us to eat breakfast. _Sasuke thought as he stared at the three wood stumps in front of them.

"Wait, then why are there only two bells when there are three of us?" Sakura asked as she held on her stomach that growled angrily.

"Since there's only two, at least one will have to be tied to the log. That person will then go back to the academy. Then again, it could just be one or all three of you go back to the academy. You can use any of your weapons such as shuriken and kunai. You are not going to be able to get one of the bells if you don't have the intent to kill me. That's the only way to retrieve one." Kakashi instructed as he tied the bells to his pants. "You will start when I say go…Go!"

The three jumped back in a flash and hid around with the landscape. Sakura jumped on the tree top and concealed herself with the leaves. _Why did I have to have pink hair? _She thought as she lowered her head but kept an eye on Kakashi.

Sasuke did the same but a few trees down. He stayed well in between the branches and the leaves, sitting on a good branch with a view of his teacher.

"A basic for a ninja is to conceal his presence and hide. Seems like everyone hid" Kakashi said softly to himself. He looked to the side and saw Naruto staring at him with a grin. He sweat dropped and shook his head. _Spoke to soon. Seems like _most _of them hid well._

"Kakashi-sensei, it's you and me, face to face." Naruto challenged boldly. His teammates hidden couldn't help but mutter 'dobe' under their breath.

"Isn't it a little weird that you aren't hiding Naruto?" Kakashi said ironically.

"The only thing that is weird is your hair. The reason I didn't point it out was because it is rude and kaasan would lecture me." Naruto chuckled to himself as he charged at his teacher.

Kakashi reached into his pouch which caused Naruto to stop. "Ninja tactic know-how number one, taijutsu. I'll teach you that first." He pulled out a bright orange book, Flirting Paradise, and opened it to his previous page.

"Eh! Why did you take out a book! Taijutsu is hand on hand combat!" He screamed insulted.

"To know what happens next obviously. Something big is happening and I want to see how it develops. Besides, I won't need both of my hands to fight you." He said coolly.

Naruto curled his fist and charged again with greater force. "You're dead!" He threw a punch to his face and he caught it in his hand, without looking away.

"Damn. Roadhouse kick." He muttered as he sent a kick to his midsection. Kakashi swiftly dodged it by crouching down. Naruto landed on his feet and leaned forward to throw an incoming punch only to find the air. "Where did he go?"

"A ninja should not let the enemy get behind him." Kakashi stated as he crouched down behind Naruto. He moved his hand posture and caught the attention of Sakura and Sasuke.

_Is he going to do a high ninjutsu on Naruto? _Sakura thought as she saw the hand sign of tiger.

_That seal…it's for fire element._ Sasuke thought shocked. "Naruto! Move! He's going to attack!" He yelled.

Naruto turned slightly to only hear a few dreaded words. "Konoha's secret taijutsu master art…! A Thousand Years of Pain!" Kakashi pushed his fingers to attack Naruto's butt.

Naruto sweat dropped and launched himself into the air, crying from the pain. He reached into his pouch and pulled out kunai and shuriken, hurling it at Kakashi. Kakashi simply dodge it with his book still in hand.

_That wasn't a fire ninjutsu. _Sasuke said to himself a little irked.

"Both of them are idiots." Sakura sighed, with a light blush.

Naruto landed in the lake, shuddering as he fell in head first into to the cold water. _Sasuke and Sakura made no move to help. Though Sasuke did yell out to warn me… there's no way for me take down Kakashi-sensei, he is too strong to fight even though I wasn't ready. Maybe if Sasuke and Sakura help me, we might have a fighting chance… _Naruto smiled and dived deeper into the lake. Within a good few feet deep, he swam to the side of the lake opposite of Kakashi and hoped for a distraction to get out, his breath was running out.

"Sasuke, Sakura. I know that you guys are hidden in the trees. If you want to pass, I advise you to run deeper in the forest." Kakashi told them as he flips through the pages of his book.

Naruto rose up with his head out for a breath and looked at Kakashi. As he was getting out of the lake, his stomach growled. "I can still do this!" He convinced himself. He looked at the trees near him and made a run for it. If he could run around the trees, he could get to Sakura and Sasuke and make a plan.

Sasuke caught a glimpse of Naruto getting out of the lake and made eye contact. Naruto nodded his head once and Sasuke returned it with his trademark smirk. "If Naruto tried, then so can I." He told Sakura as he knew she could hear him.

He landed in front of Kakashi who raised an eyebrow. "Aren't you Uchiha Itachi's little brother?" He mused.

"So what if I am?" Sasuke said, thinking over a few jutsu he learned from his niisan. He remembered what Itachi told him when teaching him the jutsu and smirked. "Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!" He placed his hands near his mouth and took a deep breath, exhaling a large amount of fiery flames heading towards Kakashi.

The fire burned in the air, alarming Naruto. He stopped running and hid behind a tree. He peeked at the side to see Sasuke attacking Kakashi with ninjutsu. _I really need to have otousan and okaasan teach me ninjutsu! _Naruto shivered and looked back at his soaked clothes. He took off his shirt and began to wring it, getting rid of the excess water before slipping it back on. He didn't want to catch a cold.

Kakashi looked up and acted quickly disappearing before the flames died down. Sasuke looked around confused. "Where did Kakashi go? Is he behind me? Above me? Where is he?" He looked around frantically.

"Neither. Underneath you. Doton: Shinju Zanshu no Jutsu!" He called out as his hand popped up from the ground and grabbed Sasuke's ankle, swapping places. Kakashi stood on the floor with Sasuke stuck underneath with his head above ground. Sasuke gritted his teeth and looked to the side.

Sakura watched with horror in her eyes. She really wanted to go help Naruto but knew she would only get in the way. She just hoped Sasuke would help but he only waited to have a turn with Kakashi. _The only way I can help is to set up traps in the forest. I don't want to be a nuisance. Besides, I don't want to go back to the academy! What if Ino-pig made it and then she'll get to be with my Sasuke-kun! I will do this for love! _ She nodded her head with conviction and ran north.

"This is the second ninja tactic know-how, ninjutsu. Know how to use your jutsu and make sure it's not used against you." Kakashi stood up and looked around the clearing. The others were hiding and it was only a matter of time that they would come at him again. To play it on the safe side, Kakashi disappeared with smoke left behind.

Naruto patiently stayed hidden behind a tree until he made sure Kakashi disappeared. He heard Sakura ran off into the forest but he wanted to help Sasuke out before finding Sakura. He had a hunch what was going on but wasn't too sure.

"Sasuke-teme! Do you need any help?" He yelled, waving his hand at him. Sasuke looked up and scowled as he heard him giggle.

* * *

Sakura was getting tired. She was well within the center of the forest of the training ground and she couldn't help but to feel like she was followed. She landed on a tree branch and looked around. All she could see was the leaves on the branches.

**Don't be too paranoid! Kakashi-sensei might be busy with Sasuke-kun or Naruto-kun to go after you! Besides, if he does show up, he will be beaten by the traps you laid out! **Inner Sakura cheered. Sakura nodded her head unconvinced when she heard a twig snapped. She stood up and looked to her sides.

"Naruto-kun, Sasuke-kun, is that you?" She whispered to herself. She stayed still and held her breath.

"Sakura, behind you." A too deep voice said as he performed his seals.

"Kakashi-sensei!" She screamed aloud until she fell down unconsciously heading to the hard ground. Kakashi caught her midair and laid her on the forest floor. He quickly stood and jumped on the tree branches, fleeing from the scene.

* * *

Sasuke was dusting the dirt off his white shorts when he heard a scream. "Did you hear that dobe? That sounded like Sakura." He looked at the forest with worry.

"Let's go find Sakura-chan teme! She might be hurt!" Naruto leaded as he ran to the forest.

* * *

A few minutes later, Sakura began to stir. She sat up and wiped her eyes. "Kakashi-sensei?" She groaned and stood up. "Where did he go-" She stopped in midsentence as she heard grunts.

"Sensei?" She walked forward freighted. She held her hands to her chest as she hesitantly took several steps forward.

"Sakura!" A voice called out.

"Sakura-chan, help us!" Another familiar voice called.

"Naruto-kun, Sasuke-kun?" She ran forward before she froze. Her lips began to tremble as her knee felt like they were about to buckle. She took one step back in horror but landed on her butt, shaking at the sight in front of her.

Sasuke laid on the ground sprawled out. Multiple kunai and shuriken covered his body along with blood from the wounds. He heard her, and lifted his head to have him coughing up blood. He was leaning on a tree for supported but his head wobbled down. "Sakura?" He asked softly.

"Sakura-chan…" Naruto said limply. He was on his knees, crawling towards her. Like Sasuke, he had kunai and shuriken all over his body with blood. His shirt was torn apart and drenched with sweat and blood. Dripping from his mouth was blood. He lifted his arm to wipe it off before extending it to Sakura. Both of them are in the verge of death. "Kakashi-sensei ambushed us when we came to help you. He-"

He started until Sakura screamed again, only getting louder until she passed out. Kakashi heard and sighed. _Maybe I over did…_ "Ninja tactic know-how, genjutsu. Learn how to identify if it is real or all an illusion" He mumbled to himself as he sat perched on a tree branch.

* * *

Naruto and Sasuke shared a look as they quicken their pace in the forest. Along the way, they barely manage to avoid some traps laid out and knew that they were on the right trail. Both of the young genin had a look of misery as they went to find their teammate.

Naruto knew that Sakura might not have more knowledge on ninjutsu than the ones from the academy. Unlike him and Sasuke, they have ninjas to help them train and someone to train with. Her parents were ninja but they probably didn't have much time to train her beyond the basics. He just hoped that they found her in one piece. He wouldn't forgive himself if he knew something bad happened to her.

Naruto scanned the area and found a body on the floor. "Teme, look! It's Sakura!" Naruto screamed excitedly as he landed next to her. Sasuke did the same and looked at Sakura with a bit of concern.

Naruto narrowed his eyes and placed two fingers on her wrist. The pulse present was as if she was as sleep but more logically a genjutsu. "Watch her as I go and see if Kakashi-sensei is nearby. I'll be right back." He instructed as he jumped at the tree branches and left before he could protest.

Sasuke sighed and sat next to her. He really wanted to get a bell on his own and pass this damn test. He knew that his brother would have passed the test in a breeze, easily handling new missions he received. Unlike Itachi, Sasuke wasn't as lucky at graduating early or touching the bell at all. _Maybe I should train a little bit harder. I could ask kaasan when Itachi-niisan isn't home. She's a good ninja too…_ He let his thoughts trail off.

"S-S-Sasuke-kun, Naruto-kun!" Sakura yelled as she sat up abruptly. She looked to her left and saw Sasuke perfectly fine. "Sasuke-kun!" She cried as she latched her arms around his neck. She hugged him tightly and brought herself closer to him.

There was a light crimson blush on his cheek as he hastily pushed her away. "I'm right here Sakura." He felt a little awkward as he stood up and stared at her. "What did Kakashi-sensei do to you?"

Sakura wiped the tears that fell and looked at him with her bright emerald eyes. "He put me in a genjutsu. He caught me off guard. It was horrible." She said sadly as she placed her hands on her laps. "I saw both you and Naruto-kun on the floor asking for help. You were both in bad shape and covered in blood and-"

"You don't have to finish that Sakura." Sasuke interrupted her kindly. She looked up at him and gave him a smile.

Sasuke knew what she was talking about. Itachi managed to convince him to go into a genjutsu to strengthen his mind. In reality, Itachi just wanted to play a little prank on his younger brother who, at the time, was too gullible for his own good. Though what Sasuke saw was not in any shape or form pretty. It was a gruesome death of his family. Sasuke would do anything in the world to make sure that never happened. Itachi did have a funny sense of humor.

"Kakashi-sensei isn't around. Hey Sakura-chan. You're awake." Naruto said as he walked towards his team.

"Kakashi placed her in a genjutsu. She's fine now." Sasuke stated as he looked up to Naruto.

"Oh okay. You guys, I think I know the actual purpose of this test." Naruto whispered as he got serious. He sat down and Sasuke did the same, sitting around in a circle. "We know that the purpose of the test is to get one of the two bells right?" He asked encouragingly. They nodded his head as he continued. "Well, how could it be possible for a genin to beat a jonin? It's impossible!"

"But then why have us try to get the bell?" Asked Sakura she placed a lock of hair behind her ear.

"Well, I think that the purpose of the test is to work together and get the bells from him." Naruto ended cheerfully as he explained it.

"That is why we are in a three man cell." Sasuke concluded smugly. _Wow, the dobe figured it out before I did…_

"But there are two bells and there are three of us. How are we supposed to get the bells from him then?" Sakura pressed. It made sense to her but she knew that they were missing something.

"Well..." He scratched the back of his head a little embarrassed. "I didn't think that far. I know that we have to work together and get the bells. We form a plan and we get the bells, becoming official ninjas!" _Well, only two of us _He thought sadly.

"Here's the plan…"

* * *

Kakashi made it back to the clearing with the logs in the middle. He looked at the clock and shook his head. He hoped that this team would have made it. They seemed to have a lot of potential and he knew that the team would be great at forefront combat. They only had ten minutes left.

He let out a perverted giggle as he read. Reina was obviously in love with Yuuto but he never managed to catch on. _Yuuto, can't you see the undying unconditional love Reina has for you! She's practically throwing herself on you! _Kakashi thought scandalously as he read that Reina was starting to turn to Ryouta for comfort.

He felt the presence of three chakra signatures and looked up. The team had a look of determination in their eyes as they walked forward, Naruto in the front slightly. "Did you bring your friends to watch you fail?" Kakashi questioned with his eyebrow raised.

"Eh? Fail! I'm going to beat you!" He roared. Kakashi nodded his head skeptically before turning his back to him.

"Sensei, you said a ninja should never turn their back on their enemies!" He said with an evil grin. "Taju Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Twenty Naruto manifested and charged at Kakashi. Sasuke and Sakura got in position around the clones.

Sasuke henged into Naruto and charged along with the clones, blending in. "Katon: Hosenka no Jutsu!" He chorused as his breath let out balls of fires following the clones. All of the Narutos threw themselves on Kakashi and held on to him, making sure that none of them moved. Two slipped behind and held Kakashi's arms behind his back.

The fireballs dispelled the clones that held Kakashi in the front as he began to fight back the clones. Kakashi kneed one of the clones, hitting its nose. "Now Sakura!" The Narutos called out simultaneously as their gripped loosened. Kakashi's eyes widened and darted to the bells. He couldn't reach it as the fireballs continued to attack him full on as the clones diminished until the only ones left were holding his arms back.

Sakura ran forward and punched Kakashi in the stomach, taking the breath out of him and swiftly swung her feet around his. He landed back on the clones with the real Naruto and Sakura quickly snatched the bells before jumping back. "I got the bells!" She yelled out.

Sasuke undid the henge and walked next to Sakura. She beamed at him and she looked at Naruto. He looked a little beaten up but smile as he undid his jutsu. He limply walked to his team and looked at their sensei.

Kakashi had a smile underneath his mask as he sat up. He looked over at the kids and smiled. Naruto and Sakura were jumping up and down from excitement while Sasuke just had a small smile on his face.

"Kakashi-sensei, we figured out you test. The goal of the test was to have us work together and get the bells away from you." Kakashi's eye glinted with happiness as he thought of his sensei. _Naruto truly is the son of Minato-sensei. A true leader able to see what is really underneath what's given._

"Now that we have the two bells, I made the decision to go back to the academy. Sasuke-teme and Sakura-chan will make genin."

Kakashi sweat dropped and took the comment back. "Naruto-kun! That wasn't part of the plan!" Sakura yelled as she bashed him in the head.

Sasuke quickly turned his head to Naruto, probably giving him whiplash, and stared at him with his eyes wide open. Like Sakura said, it wasn't part of the plan. Neither was the attack on Kakashi but it still had the same effect from the original plan.

"You _all _pass!" Kakashi congratulated.

"What?" They asked in confusion.

"Naruto, you were right about the test being about teamwork but you are wrong about going back to the academy. The test was done to set you guys against each other. From the beginning, it was testing you not only on your ability to work together to accomplish an impossible task but to also to see the meaning behind the words. Saying that you would return to the academy was more motivation to keep you guys apart and want to get the bell on your own. It's essential to have teamwork because missions are carried out that way. You should never put yourself before your teammates. It leads to failure and death." Kakashi said as he closed his book and placed it in his pouch.

"On this stone are the names of all of the ninjas who are honored as heroes." Kakashi placed his hands in his pockets. He turned and faced a granite rock with names inscribed with chakra. "These aren't like most heroes. They are all classified as K.I.A, shinobi that died protecting the village. That's the life of a ninja as they begin to take missions."

Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto bowed their headed slightly with a frown. Life as a shinobi was finally getting to them.

"This is a memorial stone. The name of my closest friend is here along with my fellow comrades. My friend taught that sometimes it's okay to break the rules in order to help your friends. 'Those who break the rules are scum' it's true because the successfulness of a missions is important for the village to stay strong, 'but those who abandon their friends are worse that scum'. Even if you have to abandon a mission, it's important to save a comrade. They are willing to help protect others' lives so it would only be respectful if you saved theirs."

Naruto wiped a tear with the end of his sleeve. "Kakashi-sensei, I will always be there for my friends! Believe it!" He proclaimed boldly. "That's my ninja way! Dattebayo! I won't let my friends ever get caught by the enemy, even if I die!"

"I'm glad Naruto." He answered tiredly. "We finished up here so we can go. Team Seven will start doing missions tomorrow!" Kakashi said giving them a smile.

"Woohoo! I'm a ninja!" Naruto cheered. "Sakura-chan, do want to go eat ramen with me?"

"No thanks Naruto. I want to get home and take a shower. Maybe next time." Sakura dismissed as she walked after Kakashi, hiding a blush. She frowned and kept at pace with Kakashi with a millions thoughts at mind.

"Teme, wanna get ramen with me?" Naruto offered as he began walking after his team.

"Sure, I guess." Sasuke walked slowly out of the field. He was tired from staying up late training with his younger brother and father. The lack of sleep wasn't helping as he repressed a yawn.

"Race ya teme!" Naruto called as he began running and passed his sensei and Sakura.

"Naruto!" Sasuke yelled as he ran to catch up with him. Naruto had a large distance between them as he had already managed to walk to the busy village street.

"Hehe. Can't catch me tem-" Ump! He crashed into someone and fell down. "Awe man." He complained as he got up. He looked down and saw a familiar indigo haired girl. "Hinata-chan!"

The victim of Naruto's sudden attacked looked up and fell back, her eyes rolling back to unconsciousness.

"Hinata-chan! Not again!" Naruto yelled as he got to his knees. He ran his hands through his hair as he gazed at her hopelessly.

Sasuke, who witness everything, smirked and walked over to them. "Come on dobe. Help me pick her up and carry her to ramen stand. The least you can do is buy her a bowl of ramen. You did bump into her. " Sasuke said as he kneeled down, pulling Hinata's limp arm and placing it around his neck.

"Teme! Get your hands off her! I'll carry her! That's the least I can do." Naruto argued as he pulled Hinata's body towards him. Naruto glared at the raven haired boy before looking at Hinata. He shrugged and scooped her up in his arms.

Sasuke held his hand in surrender as his smirk deepened as he saw the 'dobe' hold her bridal style. "You sure you'll make it to the Ichiraku's?" He comment as he walked passed them both.

"Of course I can! I did it before!"

Sasuke stopped and gave him and expectant look. Naruto scowled and walked alongside the teme silently until they saw the stand. Naruto's mouth instantly watered and jogged to his best ability carrying a Hyuga in his arms. He looked around and spotted empty chairs. He walked to the chair and gently sat Hinata down with her head resting on the table.

"Hey, if it isn't Naruto Namikaze. Did you mother let eat ramen today?" Teuchi smiled as he dried his hands with his apron.

"Well she doesn't exactly know that I'm here… I came here to eat lunch with my friend teme." Naruto answered. He looked back and saw Sasuke come in and took a seat next to him.

"Who's the unconscious girl you brought?" Teuchi asked with concern as he approached her. "You didn't hurt her did you?" He grabbed her wrist and checked for a pulse. Steadily, there was a rhythmical pulse.

"No! Of course not! Rin-chan said to wait for her wake up on her own! I wasn't going to leave her in the street alone!" He defended himself.

"She fainted 'cause she bumped into Naruto." Sasuke added with another smirk.

Teuchi chuckled and shook his head knowingly. "So what can I get you guys? Will it be the usual for you Naruto?"

"Nah! Not today. I would like pork ramen!"

"I'll have the same." Teuchi smiled and left to the kitchen.

"Do you have any idea what kind of missions we are going to have?" Naruto asked as he patiently looked at the curtain where Teuchi left. He knew better than to hurry Teuchi with making ramen. He wouldn't want to risk having raw ramen! He already knew how that was when he made instant ramen in his room. He almost got caught and had to quickly get rid of the evidence against him.

"Probably D ranks missions around the village." He said with a shrug. He silently wished that they could take on higher rank missions but they were still genin and inexperienced. He was a fool to think that they could take higher missions.

"Awe man! I knew it I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up." He said dismissively as his eyes trailed to the unconscious Hyuga.

She was an enigma to Naruto. He'd seen her around the academy and in the village but he hadn't had the chance to talk to her. Nothing about the girl told him that she was loud or shy until that fateful day. He wanted to approach her again but didn't have to nerve to do it. How would one approach someone who lost their mother? He knew that there was always a special between mother and daughter as there is with father and son.

The young Namikaze was curious and was going to make sure that Hinata would always be okay. He just had to talk to his mom to help her out. With his nindo, his was going to help his friends!

"Dobe? Are you there? They just placed ramen in front of you and you didn't respond? You 'kay?" Sasuke asked with his chopstick. To be honest, he was quite surprise that Naruto didn't attack the bowl before it was set down. He had assumed that the bowl would be empty by now.

Naruto shook his head and gave him a big grin. "I'm fine teme. Just thinking." He grabbed his chopstick and hurriedly began to devour the ramen.

"Just don't think too much dobe. You can't strain the little brain you have." Sasuke said jokingly.

"Oi! Teme! Take that back! I'm plenty smart! I just don't show it." He huffed and crossed his arms.

Sasuke smirked and nodded his head unconvincingly. "Say what you want Naruto."

"Kiyo-chan! You don't have to run! It's not like Ichiraku's is going anywhere!" a voiced called out to another.

"Hurry Akihiko-kun! I want to see if tousan is here!" A feminine voice answered persuadably.

With the recognition of the name, Naruto turned around and saw his younger sister and her best friend walk in. He shrugged and slurped the noodles in his mouth.

"Hey niisan! How did it go today with Kakashi-sensei?" Kiyomi asked casually as she sat next to Sasuke.

"It was awesome! You should have seen me! I was fighting Kakashi-sensei while Sasuke-teme hid in the trees." Naruto exclaimed. He was glad his sister came to share his new story with. Now he had the audience of Sasuke's little brother and he was going to take advantage of it. "The teme didn't do anything but hide with Sakura-chan."

"You hid niisan? Why?" Akihiko said at the side of Kiyomi.

"A basic for a ninja is to conceal his presence and hide. Naruto didn't hide and was attacked by one move of Kakashi's and it sent him to the lake." He remarked smugly. He was _not _going to have Naruto show him up, especially not in front of his younger brother.

Naruto blushed and scratched her head. "Well… I manag-"

Sasuke cleared his throat in a way of a threat.

Naruto sighed. "_We _defeated Kakashi and we start doing missions tomorrow." He clarified glumly as he boasted to his sister. That secret jutsu of Konoha would make him a target for his sister's jokes. He did not want to be stuck in that situation.

"Wait, I didn't notice there was a girl sitting next you. Who is she Naruto-kun?" Kiyomi frowned at the slouch girl with her head on the table.

"Ohh! That's Hinata! She's from our class. I don't know what happened to her but she fainted."

"Did you take her to Rin-oba? Maybe she's sick." She concluded with a calculated gaze.

"I have. Rin-chan said to wait for 10 minutes or so and that she is not sick." He said with his mouth full.

Sasuke almost choked on his noodle but swallowed either way. He was starting to question whether he was son of the Yondaime. _Does he really not notice what's going on or does he plain fully ignore it? _Sasuke questioned as he felt the strain of swallowing the noodles.

Kiyomi turned her attention to her hungry stomach and politely asked Teuchi for ramen along with Akihiko and Naruto, who asked for more. Once the Uchihas finished their respectable one bowl, they watched with shock and terror as the Namikaze raced through bowls. Naruto had the most bowls eaten with 10. Kiyomi was barely at 5 but it didn't stop her enthusiasm.

Akihiko was not sure whether to be impressed or scared. He had seen many of the girls take salad to school for lunch but Kiyomi always had a full meal made by her mother. She would always eat it all along with the desert Kushina made, not leaving a single crumb behind. "It's a miracle that you haven't gotten fat." He commented.

Kiyomi's hand froze as she was feeding noodles in her mouth. She put her chopstick inside her bowl and slowly turned her head to face him. "What did you say?" She asked in an even tone.

Sasuke and Naruto knew from the tone that she was angry. They've personally dealt with Kushina but her voice has _never_ been so serious. Sasuke gave his brother a pitying look and turned around, making sure he didn't get caught starting at her aghast.

"I'm surprised that you haven't gotten fat. Naruto eats a lot of ramen but he is always training and burning the calories. While you, on the other han-"

"BAKA!" She yelled as she hit the top of her head with her fist. She reached into her pocket and pulled out yen and placed it on the counter, covering for her meal and a tip. She lifted her fist again and punched him until he fell to the ground before dashing out.

"Kiyomi!" He said desperately as he rubbed his head. He looked at his older brother defeated but only got offered a sympathetic smile. Naruto sat there unnerved and continued eating. "You had it coming Akihiko."

The heiress that once was unconscious jumped at the screamed and stared at the people who caused a scene. _What happened? _She lifted her head and saw Naruto seated next to her with Sasuke and a little boy on the floor.

Akihiko held his head and ran out the establishment. "Kiyomi! Wait!"

Naruto started laughing loudly, grabbing his stomach. He took a deep breath before turning. He looked to his right and found the Hyuga heiress staring at them confused. "You're awake Hinata-chan!"

"Ep" She whispered before she raised her eyes to meet his. She stared at his cerulean eyes before falling forward.

Naruto caught her and sighed tiredly. _What's wrong with her! If Rin-chan said she wasn't sick then what's wrong! _He cried mentally.

Sasuke was too amused watching both that they failed to notice someone walk in. "Lord Hokage! It's a pleasure to have you come back!" Teuchi welcomed as he came from the back.

"Hokage-sama?!" Sasuke said as he hastily turned around. The Hokage stood there casually and took a seat next raven haired boy. Sasuke got up and bowed quickly. "Evening Hokage-sama."

"Hey otousan! Today, the pork ramen seems like the best! Might be that I didn't eat breakfast but either way it's ramen!" Naruto greeted his dad open heartily.

Minato smiled. "Sasuke, haven't I told you to call me by name? We're like family, there's no need for that."

"Of course Minato-san." Sasuke nodded his head. He knew from his family that they were supposed to respect the Fourth and show appreciation to him. As his father said, "The Yondaime Hokage is a remarkable man to fullest. Though most will admit his kindness might hinder the village, it's a quality that nonetheless protected the village from war and harsh reality of death. Those who don't know him personally will say his kindness is a setback, when they forget to realize how we won The Third Great Shinobi War."

"Naruto, Sasuke, why is there an unconscious girl seated next to you?" Minato asked as he walked to the girl.

"It's Hinata-chan. She fainted when I kind of… bumped into her… so I decided to treat her to ramen. She woke up when Kiyo-chan screamed at Akihiko but she fainted again!" He vented slightly.

Minato raised his eyebrow in question and chuckled softly. _Does he not see the reason why? _He mused as he saw the look of exasperation on his son face. _Maybe not… He's just like his mother…_ "Ah Naruto. You'll come to understand this much better when you get older."

_Maybe not all of the men in his family are clueless about women._ Concluded Sasuke as Minato gently placed his hand on Hinata's shoulder.

"Hinata, please open your eyes." Minato whispered softly and felt her tense her shoulder.

"H-H-Hokage-sama!" Hinata stuttered as she quickly went to her feet and bowed.

"Please take it easy. Naruto told me you fainted. Let us buy you some ramen." He smiled, putting his hand on her head.

Hinata turned beet red and nodded. She quickly sat on the stool awkwardly. She was sitting not only next to Naruto, her beloved crush, but with the Hokage of the village! She stood straighter and looked forward, scared that she might faint again.

"Teuchi, please serve these young genin a bowl of pork ramen and one for myself. It's on me." Minato asked as he glanced at the new shinobi.

_It isn't every day the Hokage _invites_ you to eat ramen. It's also not like it's impossible_ _to eat more than one bowl. _Sasuke smiled at the thought and looked at Naruto. "A-Arigato Hokage-sama." Hinata thanked.

"Very well. I'll be right back Lord Hokage."

"So, how was your test Hinata?" Minato asked as he turned to face the genin.

"I-I-It was fine. K-Kiba-kun, S-Shino-kun and I had to find K-Kurenai-sensei as she hid in the forest. I-It was difficult at first but we decided to w-work together and we found her q-quickly." Hinata quietly spoke, her face completely red. She was embarrassed with the all the attention that she was getting and the look Naruto was giving her. His clear blue eyes stared directly at her as she could feel her heart pound faster.

"That's excellent. I expected nothing more than that." Minato praised. He smiled at the thought that he had finally heard her speak more than a phrase. He wondered what Hiashi did to have his daughter how she was now but he had to put his thoughts in check. The death of Honoka affected not only Hiashi but Hinata as well.

"We beat our sensei too! Kakashi-sensei had nothing on us when we took the bells." Naruto exclaimed energetically. Internally, he just wanted his dad's attention like he always had as a child growing up.

"I see that Kakashi did the bell test on you guys. I trust that went smoothly." He hoped. He wondered how the team reacted to having to get two bells with three of them. He remembered the reactions of his team.

"Yeah. We figured out the true goal of the test and attacked him together. Sasuke-teme and I distracted him while Sakura got the bell and he said that we passed." Naruto summarized.

"I'm glad. We have plenty of missions for you guys to do around the village." Minato said almost evilly.

"Alright! This sounds like fun!" Naruto roared with excitement. He wondered what their first mission would be. Would they do something cool and dangerous? Sasuke said that they wouldn't leave the village yet with D rank missions. Millions of ideas flashed through his head until he remembered something. "Tousan, will you teach me some of our clan's jutsu? I love training with kaasan but I don't want to do more chakra exercises! I want to know cool ninjutsu!"

"Son, you know that you have to good chakra control and besides, that's just some of the training. She's mentioned to me that you have the taijutsu stance down from both of our clans. Just have a little more patience Naruto. Before you know it, you will know a lot of our clan's jutsu." Minato laughed at the annoyed face Naruto gave him. Sometimes Naruto got ahead of himself.

"Then why does Sasuke-teme gets to learn his clan's jutsu? He doesn't have that much of good chakra control." He accused.

"The customs of each clan is greatly different. You must mean the Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu. It's a jutsu the Uchiha teach their young shinobi from coming of age. If you want, I could teach you one of our clan's jutsu." Minato offered attempting to not laugh at the pout Naruto had.

"Cool! When will you teach me? Can we go right now? Can we?!" Naruto jumped out of his seat and looks at his father.

Minato laughed. "Maybe not today Naruto. I still have some paperwork back at the office. More likely tomorrow when I have my day off."

He dropped his head and sighed before smiling. "You think that okaasan would be willing to teach me one of her jutsu?"

"Perhaps. She probably at Mikoto's house. Mikoto called her over early to tell her important news."

Both Sasuke and Naruto looked at him as if he grew another head. Mikoto rarely called early to share important news. The most important news the Uchiha would have is that the police force had more recruits that were promising.

Noticing the silence, Hinata felt a little awkward being here. She didn't have the courage to have a conversation with them while eating her ramen. "T-Thank you Hokage-sama for the ramen. It was really good. I-I must go home. My father will be expecting me." She excused as she made her escape.

"Bye Hinata-chan!" called Naruto. "Bye Hinata-chan" Sasuke said casually as they stood to leave. "Tousan, I'm going to check on Mikoto-san. Let's go teme."

Sasuke crossed his arms and gave Naruto an annoyed look. "Thank you Minato-san." Sasuke bowed before going after Naruto who left ahead.

They quickly made their way across the village. They hid a little in the alley when they realize they were being followed by their fan girls. Compared to other times, they have improved on being inconspicuous. When the numbers multiplied, they broke in a full out run to the Uchiha Compound.

They looked back and saw dirt rising up as girls ran after them. They only left behind the dirt in the air and everything in their way was destroyed instantly. "SASUKE-KUN!" "NARUTO-KUN!" Either group of girls screamed.

"Jun, don't let those girls come in the compound!" Sasuke coughed as he ran passed the guards. The man Jun laughed and shook his head. "As you wish Sasuke-kun. It's like when Itachi-kun was still in the academy." He commented with a smirk.

They passed several houses in a blur before arriving at the main house. They placed their hands on their knees and panted, out of breath. "That was a close one. Since when did they get better on staying nonvisible?" Sasuke asked sliding the door open.

"Beats me. All I want to do is train harder so I run away from them faster." Naruto shivered.

The raven haired silently agreed as walked through the living room. In the hall, nearing the kitchen, he heard two familiar voices. Sasuke raised his hand to Naruto and hid in the hallway. They pressed their back to the wall and listened. They knew that they shouldn't listen into their conversation but they were curious why Mikoto had urgency to have the red haired shinobi over.

"Do you have an idea how you are going to tell them?" Kushina asked.

"No, I'm not sure how to. It was unexpected but a nice unexpected thing." Mikoto answered with a little laugh.

"You have to tell Fugaku first. It's important news. I just hope that he'll handle the news smoothly. This is Fugaku so he might not take it that way. He might get mad or he cou-"

"Thanks for the moral support." Mikoto interrupted sarcastically.

"You are very welcome Mikoto-chan."

Naruto gave Sasuke a weird look. "What are they talking about teme?" He whispered softly.

"How am I supposed to know?" He shushed Naruto with his foot.

"Ow!" Naruto cried but Sasuke put his hand on his mouth. "Quiet! We can't get caught. If they catch us, I don't want to even finish that. Kushina-san is very scary when angered."

"Really?" A voice said loudly in Sasuke's ear. He heard her crack her knuckles and he began to sweat. _Shit! _


	6. Promises of Hard Work

**AN: I am sorry that it took a long time to update but I was stuck on the road of life. *coughs weakly* Well, this is chapter is last part of the Introductory Arc and The Land of Waves Arc is coming soon. With that said, the chapters will get a bit shorter but to only make sure I update more frequently with me now returning back to school. I will have omake at the end to make up for the lack of length. If you want me to make of a certain thing, then i will try to do it! I will put in his relationship with everyone as a child and with his family, especially Jiraiya.**

**You guys probably might skip this but keep this in mind, THIS CHAPTER WAS NOT YET EDITED BY MY BETA! I felt guilt that it took like a month to update so I will have it changed in the next few days. Thank you! Please, review and ask questions. ^-^ **

Chapter 6: Promises of Hard Work 

**[Recap]**

**Naruto gave Sasuke a weird look. "What are they talking about teme?" He whispered softly.**

**"How am I supposed to know?" He shushed Naruto with his foot.**

**"Ow!" Naruto cried but Sasuke put his hand on his mouth. "Quiet! We can't get caught. If they catch us, I don't want to even finish that. Kushina-san is very scary when angered."**

**"Really?" A voice said loudly in Sasuke's ear. He heard her crack her knuckles and he began to sweat. ****_Shit! _**

She began tapping her foot on the floor impatiently, waiting for them to make a move. Both genin froze and offered a small guilty smile. Kushina shrugged her shoulder and bent over, throwing Sasuke on her shoulder as Mikoto did the same to Naruto. Both beautiful kunoichi carried the struggling boys to the dining room and sat them on the chair despite their protest and complaints.

"Hey!" Complained Naruto as he glared at them a little. He directed his eyes to his mom because he knew how unpredictable she was. He might not see her move directly, he would still feel her chakra signature, it wasn't hard when she a lot compare to most.

Sasuke scowled and avoided their stares. _Stupid dobe! If it wasn't for him, we might have heard something interesting… Maybe an important missions or a clan related issue…_ His thoughts trail as his eyes darted to the floor, ignoring his mother penetrating gaze. He felt the pressure of the two adults stare, more like menacing glare but would not falter.

"You know that eave's dropping is bad Sasuke-chan" Mikoto began as she shook her head in shame. She thought she raised her sons better than that. Itachi and Sasuke were the ones who showed more proper respect in comparison to her younger son Akihiko that complained about everything. She blamed Fugaku for his rebellious attitude and lack of proper etiquette. He never liked it as a child and it seemed to have become the same thing for their youngest son.

"Sasuke-chan?" Naruto snickered as he whipped his head to see Sasuke who grumble under his breath. In all his life, he hasn't heard such a ridiculous things like he has now. Sure his mother called him Naru-chan but she stopped when she noticed the annoyed face he would make when she called him that in front of his sister.

"Shut up dobe." Sasuke looked up and saw a dark expression on Kushina similar to his. He gulped and glanced at his mother pleadingly. Kushina might have a soft spot for him being her godson but that did not change the fact how she viewed punishment. He just hoped he didn't get to hurt for their first mission tomorrow. Besides that, he wanted to ask his mother to train him later today. _Seems like training with kaasan won't be possible. _He thought glumly.

"What did you guys hear?" Kushina demanded. She put her hands on her hip and gave them an expectant look. She knew that her friend wouldn't want her to hurt her son even if it wasn't anything serious. Sure, she was the godmother of Sasuke but that didn't change the fact that Mikoto wouldn't want her son hurt. Not like she can blame her. Kushina wouldn't allow anything bad to happen to her children especially since they were defenseless in her mind. Moreover, she did love the boys but there are boundaries that must be kept to have respect with each other. What Mikoto and her spoke about were very important and private things. Not just anyone could know.

"Just that there was something important and that Mikoto-oba had to tell Fugaku." Naruto answered honestly. Gosh did he hate being in such an open situation. It wasn't his fault that Sasuke kicked his feet and they got discovered. Well, maybe only a little.

Mikoto shared a look with Kushina as she sighed tiredly. "Alright, let's go Naruto." Kushina went over to her godson and pinched his cheek despite a trivial complaint. She smiled innocently at him before walking out of the dining room.

"Bye Mikoto-oba, _Sasuke-chan._" Naruto giggled as he quickly ran out the room. He avoided a kunai that passed next his head as it hit the wall next to the door. He laughed more when he heard Mikoto began to lecture at him and hurried to catch up to his mother. He knew that he had new bait to tease Sasuke about it, especially in front of Sakura.

"So Naruto, how did it go on your test?" Kushina beamed at her son as she reached for his son's hand. He pouted a little before a small smile appeared on his face. She was curious on whether her son made it after all. Kakashi was a strict teacher and never had passed any of his genin teams. He has claimed that they lack teamwork and that he would not have a team that did not value it. She knew the reason why and kept to herself. If Kakashi wanted to explain his personal belief on it, then he would be the ones to tell them, not her.

"Well we passed! In the beginning, I just charged and attacked while the others hid." Naruto scratched his head in embarrassment with his free hand and continued. "I didn't manage to get any hits but once I manage to distant myself from Kakashi-sensei, I hinted that to my team that something was off. We needed to go to the forest and we made a plan there as we regrouped. Together, Sakura-chan, Sasuke-teme and me attacked Kakashi-sensei and then Sakura-chan got the bell."

Kushina beamed at her son. "You know that Kakashi has never passed a genin team? I believe that you are the first team that managed to pass." She complimented as she ruffled his hair. She knew what the bell test was and was privilege to see Minato do the test on his genin. Gosh did he love his students, Obito was just something that she loved too. She smiled and sighed a little troubled.

"Cool! I'll be Hokage before you know it! Dattebayo!" Naruto exclaimed excitedly as he they passed down the busy market district. Kushina smiled deepened and began swinging their locked hands. She truly did missed spending time with her son, taking leisure walks.

"Naruto, it's been a long time since it's been you and me walking around the village and having some mother and son bonding." She commented as her gaze landed to mothers with their young children. She felt a little sad but then guilty. She was a kunoichi of Konoha. She chose that her life, wanting to be a ninja before she to having a family. By having a career as a ninja, she knew the probability that her children would follow those steps which made the moments together very important.

More guilt came as she remembered the war. While Minato was with his team, she was busy along with many others jonin fighting for the lives of her villagers. Minato earned the nickname of Konoha's Yellow Flash while her nickname as Red Hot Habanero of Konoha became known throughout the countries. Her undying spirit and her brutal attacks would plummet anyone she faced to death. She wasn't proud for the nickname but feared that those who survived will attempt and succeed in killing her children. She wouldn't allow that she came up with a decision.

"I know. Kiyo-chan came when I was four and the pregnancy was a bit difficult. I assume that it was easier when you were pregnant with me because of the Kyuubi. With Kiyo-chan, you were in the hospital a lot. Otousan seemed worried a lot." Naruto commented sadly. He figured that was what his mother meant.

She squeezed his hand and suppressed a frown. She wondered if he ever thought about the enemies she and Minato had. Naruto questioned them about it once when he was in the academy and they were covering the war but it seemed like the thought of revenged never crossed his mine. "The pregnancy was difficult and bit different when I had you but it was not that bad. Your dad was just paranoid. You should have seen him when I got pregnant with you. He would take me to the doctors all the time. He wouldn't let me do missions and would take me to Rin every time I threw up. He would always question the doctors diagnostic and they would get mad." She chuckled despite herself.

Naruto laughed and shook his head. "That sounds like dad. It's a miracle that he didn't make you do that with Kiyo-chan."

"It's not like he didn't try" She grumbled darkly. Unlike most of Naruto's adoptive aunts and uncles, she found Naruto thoughts and comments hilarious. It always brought out a piece of her as a child. Kushina was still pretty young but felt a little out of it but as someone she knew, his 'youthfulness' made things more bearable. She knew that he had her personally but even a blind person can see that. She chuckled at that and walked in a comfortable silence. She looked down at her son and noticed a slight frown that matched hers earlier.

Naruto stopped walking and glanced at his mom with a shine in his eyes with resolve. "Kaasan, can you train me some more? I want to get stronger and be a shinobi that protects my friends. I think I mastered tree walking and I want to try something else."

She smirked instead of gaping at him like a fish out of water. "Hai Naruto! I train you to be the best shinobi there is! You might not like my methods but I know that with time, you'll get accustomed to it. Let's go home now and we can start." _ Thank you Kami! Now I can train him to his full potential and then Kiyomi will be next. I didn't want to scare him with the thought of nins coming to kill them because the role we had in the war but they need to be able to hurt them so in the end they won't have to be. _

"Alright! Race you!" He grinned as he ran down the market district street. Kushina nodded her head and in no time, they arrived at the Namikaze estate. They quickly wasted no time and heading to the training grounds and setting up dummies and the target practice.

"Naruto, show me how well you mastered tree walking." Kushina said as she quickly grabbed her hair in a high pony tail. Naruto nodded his head energetically and began walking up the tree before going into a run. He reached the highest branch and walked under it, hanging upside down.

"I told you I can do it kaasan!" Naruto waved his hand at his mom and grinned cheekily. Kushina was so proud, words couldn't explain how she felt. She considered teaching him water walking for more practice but he would just get mad. It would be more practical if he had more control of the profuse amount of chakra however, she would rather have him be able to defend himself. In Great Third Shinobi War, both were famous and sought out for their abilities. Perhaps she would teach him how to do wind style jutsu like his father, it was more probably that it is his affinity.

"Very good Naruto!" She praised. "I'm going to teach a wind style jutsu. It's called Ranboukazenenten."

"Ranboukazenenten?" He asked.

"Yes Naruto. It's a jutsu for offense and defense. You must apply chakra to your feet and spin on your heel three times simultaneously, each spin releasing a violent burst of wind from all directions. It will cover a range about eight feet out. This jutsu is very helpful to displace incoming projectile and possible jutsu such as water and fire."

"Cool!" He quickly wanted to master this jutsu. He was not going to be left behind in the department of fighting. He remembered how he saw his sister fought the Uchiha boy and laughed. To think that he was able to perform those taijutsu moves much faster and with more brute force. He just had to no longer hold back.

"The only drawback would be that the jutsu will get you a little dizzy for a second if not more, slowing your reaction time. You could use it to knock opponents who come too close. Sadly, I cannot make is as strong as a ninja with a natural affinity of wind, but I can perform the jutsu nonetheless."

"Show me kaasan!" Naruto stared at his mother with awe.

She nodded her head and began signing. "Fuuton: Ranboukazenenten!" She spun around three times with each spinning letting out a wing span of wind of ten feet radius. Naruto quickly lifted his arms to his face as the gust of wind ran through him and applied chakra to the soles of his feet, staying to the ground. He was pushed back several feet back and felt his arms tremble from blocking the wind. He dug his heel deep in the dirt and grunted until she finished.

"That was powerful kaasan!" He put his arms to the side and ran to his mother, enveloping her to a hug. "I'm going to be a great ninja thanks to you and tousan!"

She smiled down and her son and ruffled his hair. "Start practicing Naruto! I know you can master this jutsu easily! Come and attack me with it."

He nodded his head in determination. The first step was completing the seals before applying the right amount of chakra near his toes. He quickly turned to the right and felt gust of air flying through his clothes. Each spin giving off resilient attack and Kushina waited as the air push her caused her to take a step back and moved a few strands of her hair. "Not bad Naruto. Practice pushing the dummy back as I throw some dull shurikens and kunai at you. Motivations are always a good thing. Don't give up until the very end."

Naruto began with the same steps as before and caught the sight of the shurikens and kunai hurled at him. He began spinning faster and heard the sounds of clanging of metals. He stopped and felt the dizziness his mom warned him about. He grabbed his head to steadied it and saw the weapons on the ground. A small smile formed and he looked back at the dummy in the training ground. It was moved few feet away and he couldn't help to feel happier. He knew within time, he would master the technique without having to be dizzy.

The rest of the afternoon was spent with Naruto practicing the new jutsu and each time he managed to perform it, he would feel less dizzy until to the point he would feel nothing at all. After a suggestion his mom made, he created a few clones and began to gain mastery very rapidly. He managed to push the dummy across the field and the shurikens and kunai back to his mother with one of his clone. Naruto smirked and dispelled his clones and gain the memories, and did the jutsu again. Kushina dodged it at ease and jumped back as the distance the air covered expanded. _ His mastery of the jutsu is incredible! Perhaps his elemental affinity is wind like Minato. If that the case, it would be best if he learn more of the wind jutsus. Let's see if he can use it in combat with me._

She jumped off a tree bark and charged at her son. Naruto was surprised but quickly pulled out his kunai to stop the incoming one to his neck. The kunai clanged at the touch and Naruto held his ground. He lifted the kunai up to his face and jumped back. He looked up and saw his mom smiling. He smiled back and went on the offense, closing the distance between them and throwing jabs at her. She blocked them all and she returned them faster in a blur. Barely managing to block most, Naruto pulled back and reached into his pouch and pulled out a few shuriken before hurling them towards her.

With a good distance from Kushina, he began performing the necessary seals for Ranboukazenenten. He finished and called out his new jutsu. "Fuuton: Ranboukazenenten!" He spun around and Kushina widened her eyes in shock. The wind that attacked threw her back in the air and she jumped backwards and kneeled down. She lifted her arms to form an X and let the attack hit her in a distance. She was now sure that the attack had more strength and the speed to perform of the jutsu increased rapidly with the thirst of knowledge Naruto had. She felt her hair blowing hard against the attack and her dressed flapped around her.

"How was that?" Naruto asked as he panted slightly. He wiped the sweat on his forehead and waited for a response. He saw his mother slowly stand up to jump in the air.

"That was great Naruto! Dattebane!" She yelled happily but then stopped and quickly clamped her hand on her mouth.

Naruto stared at her with wide opens and lifted his finger to point at her. "You do say it!"

_I really need to stop saying that! It's a miracle that only Naruto caught this habit from me. It would have been weird if Itachi learned it when I would babysit the young heir. _Kushina gave him a small smile while innocently giggled before ignoring the comment all together. If she answered him back, they would end up in argument and the last thing that you wanted was an angry Kushina training you.

"I'll teach you one more before I have you train for endurance and strength. It's called Kaze Ya no Jutsu, also known as Needles in the Wind. You gather air with your hands and mix it with chakra. By doing this you transform them into sharp and deadly needles. The needles are almost invisible so it is hard for the enemies to see them. Because the needles are made of air they cannot be blocked or deflected. The only way to ensure safety is to dodge them. That's one of the wonders on using wind ninjutsu, invisibility."

Naruto put his arms in front of him and began concentrating and carefully listened to steps his mother gave him. He closed his eyes and felt as he grabbed some of the air but felt a burning sensation and opened his eyes to see a ball chakra. He ignored the pain that shot through his arm but his arm started to shake. Kushina, with her hawk like sight, saw this and frowned deeply. Naruto tried to increase more amount of chakra until Kushina yelled aloud. "That's enough!"

She pulled on his arm and saw a few burn marks and grimaced. "Naruto, let's focus on training on your chakra control and then manipulation. It would be easier then with more control. I thought maybe it was okay to just let you tree walk but it seems like water walking would help you immensely. Afterwards we'll go inside and you can help me prepare dinner." Naruto sighed and she commented. "Naru-chan, I know that it isn't easy but we never said it was. If you want to be a great ninja, then don't give up! Like I say, don't give up until the very end because only then do we see the end result and then you'll know your capabilities. These chakra control exercises are not the only ones you will have to do but we stop and mixed in taijutsu lessons and your normal physical strength practice more likely tomorrow."

Naruto gave a small smile for his nickname but still didn't get it. He wanted to continue practicing and master the wind jutsu but she did have a point. When he drew out chakra, he could feel that it was a lot of it. He would pay attention with he would do Tajū Kage Bunshin no Jutsu when a lot of chakra went into the jutsu, though not so much that he felt tired.

_I should have complete mastery of my chakra control and then maybe then tousan and kaasan can teach me their ninjutsu. Tousan has his Hiraishin and according to him, kaasan was a true seal master. I'm going to have to look into that. _

"Well start with endurance. We'll spar with the intention of lasting longer with _stronger _kicks and hits. Just staying in battle for a long time won't guarantee victory. You have to _fight _and attempt to hurt me. Don't hold back Naruto. Be offense and I 'll be defense until you get tired." She instructed with a hint of humor in his voice. "You make clones if you can't handle me." She taunted a little.

He scowled a little and leaped forward in a flash. He threw his fist in attack his mom face and she caught them easily. He continued to punch until he landed a total of three hits that were directed to her midsections though he didn't deepen the distance as he threw a kick to her head. _Konoha Daisenkō _He thought as he connected with something hard.

Kushina caught his leg and spun him around with a mischievous smile. _Almost got me there Naru-chan. Almost… but not entirely. _ She stopped and tossed him at the dummy in the middle of the training ground.

Naruto quickly shifted in the air and landed on his feet to only backflip from the momentum of the attack. Kushina jumped right into it and was welcomed with various punches and kicks that had no pattern. Quickly, a swift roadhouse kick came from her side and she jumped in the air to only slap herself mentally. _I regret teaching him that move. Shishi Rendan! _

Naruto took advantage of her being in aerial move and slipped above her to summersault in a ball, sending multiple kicks and punches before delivering a final strong kick to the stomach. Sadly, Kushina fell on the ground and gritted her teeth with pain and irritation on her abdomen. _This might be the last time that I have to completely hold back on him. Maybe next time he can actually get me good! _

Kushina slowly sat up and heard some slight panting. She turned over to see two blue eyes staring at her in concern. "Are you okaasan? Did I hurt you? Man, dad is going to get mad! Wait right here whil-"

"I'm fine Naruto." She interrupted with a small smile. "I've been through worse and seen better by the way." She jumped on her feet and almost fell back. _Maybe not? _

"Well then maybe don't hold back. I can handle myself." Naruto huffed and crossed his arms. He had a pout and refused to look in the direction where his mom stood. He knew that his mother was one of the strongest kunoichi there is in the village. He would be stupid if he thought he almost got her with Shishi Rendan, a simple C rank move.

"If you only showed more determination and if _you _didn't hold back, I would either. I don't want you think that I think you are weak but I will not go all out on you. You're still a genin and not fighting me like you would in battle. I've been in plenty of battles before where the enemy where up to par with me or stronger. I've endured and fought to my fullest at war. Besides, ask Kakashi how I treat those who offend me or anyone who insult those I care for." She said casually. Naruto took a step back and decided to shut his mouth.

"Now, let's go into the kitchen to prepare dinner. Your dad said they would come later as he promised to take your sister to the park." Both Namikaze stood up and walked to the house with no hurry .

Naruto stole a glance at his mom and made another decisions. _ I will keep my promise to protect my friends from everyone that comes to harm them, by doing so, I will no longer hold back on training! I have a lot to live up to and I won't be slacking off now just because I am genin. I will get stronger and fight kaasan and tousan with them full on! Dattebayo!_

* * *

"Mom, I'm home!" A pink haired girl said as she took off her shinobi sandals and placed them neatly on the floor.

"Sakura, come inside the kitchen! Tell me how did it go? I made yakitori to eat while we talk" A warm voice called. She took a step back from the stove and held the pan above the fire as her daughter walked through the living room. She looked at her daughter and noticed a trouble look on her face. "Sakura, honey, what's wrong?"

The pinkette raised her emeralds eyes and looked at his mom. "Mom, do you think it's a bad to care about one's look instead of being a ninja?" She asked cautiously as she took a seat on the wooden chair near the table.

"I think that you need to balance it out since you are a girl. You should mostly focus on being a ninja then anything else if you want to live long enough. What brought this?" Mebuki turned off the flames and place the chicken on a plate and took out a few wooden spears.

Sakura sighed deeply before she began to recall the survival test her team had with Kakashi. She thought that she could have trick Kakashi into her trap with volley of shuriken but in the end, she was caught in genjutsu that only made her appear weak. She was in a team with two shinobi that came from famed clans but they also the top two ninjas. "Naruto and Sasuke seem to handle things quickly and swiftly. I feel that I am holding them back. The only useful thing I was able to do was get the bell while they attacked."

Mebuki repressed a frown and began nibbling on yakitori. "Dear, you are incredibly smart however you need to improve." Sakura stared at her mom flabbergasted but then frowned even deeper with the words Kakashi said before the test._ Usually the loud ones are the one that fails or the one with least experience._ "You can just expect to be good, especially compared to those two that come from the strongest clans. Perha-"

Sakura stood up quickly before bowing to her mom, not caring a bit when she interrupted her. "Excuse me mom, I'm going to the library." She quickly went to the living to put her shoes on and left hastily. Her mom looked after her worried but stayed seated.

_It's time like this when I wish that I was still friends with Ino-pig. _She thought sadly. She closed the door behind her and walked around the village, glancing at the shops and the busy merchants.

**No! She was in the way of the love of your life! You guys had to end it so either one of you can be Sasuke-kun. It's obviously you!**Her inner self proclaimed.

She didn't answer and began walking down the dirt road aimlessly. She glanced at the sky and stared at the clouds before returning her gaze in front of her.

She walked pass the park and looked at the kids playing on the swings. She saw two girls arguing and a little boy silently swinging. One of the girls had two pig tails, but looked a little too big for it with a yukata. The other girl had her hair down, wearing a traditional Chinese dress and both seemed to intensely argue with the other.

Sakura walked towards them without her knowledge until she was a good ten feet away from them. The girls did not hear here approach but she could now hear them bicker.

"Get away from him Aki!" The ones with pig tails cried out as she pushed her.

"You Noa!" The girl hissed and jumped forward to only get caught by a pink haired. Aki froze and looked up to see a pissed of Sakura.

"What are you guys fighting about?" She asked, with her voice raised. She held on Aki's collar and pulled her back from Noa. Her eyes flickered to the boy who watched everything with shame in his eye and worry that a crazy pink haired girl was holding on one of his best friend. "Don't waste your time fighting! You have to stand together and not fight over a boy"

Nao looked at Sakura with wide eyes before looking at Aki. Sakura dropped Aki and turned around, to hear one of them apologize and call her some names.

"That girl was crazy."

"Did you see the look in her eyes?"

"Noa, Aki, why were you guys fighting? I was just swinging before that crazy chick came over!"

Sakura heard the last two comments and hurried to the library to take her mind of today occurrence. _They don't realize how good they have it, just a bunch of little kid, having nothing to worry about or anyone to protect. They are still too young to even think to enjoy the academy, another pile of worries and precaution added to life. _

* * *

"This is Sasuke, arrived on point B." The raven haired said as he quickly jumped in the air and hid behind the tree.

"This is Sakura, arrived on point C." Sakura was crouched down near a green bush and looked around, waiting for Naruto to speak.

"This is Naruto, arrived on point A. Dattebayo!" Naruto was in the lead and was hidden behind a tree. He looked back and nodded his head back at them.

"Naruto, you are going to burst my ear drum." Kakashi muttered into the ear piece. He was busy concealed within the trees of the forest. He was keeping an eye on his team along with the target. "Okay seventh unit. The target has moved. After it!"

The team quickly jumped into action as the swiftly moved after the running target. Naruto jumped on a tree branch and acted as a cover for Sakura who was in the front. Sasuke was back up as he was a few meters behind Naruto, hidden behind a tree.

"Okay she is here" Naruto jumped down and softly landed a few more feet forward. He quickly went to the right and felt his teammates follow in suit.

"What is the distance of the target?" Kakashi asked into his ear piece. He secretly had his book out and was reading until they finally caught sight of their target.

"Five meters. I'm ready to go." Naruto warned as he took a peek of the target.

"I am too." Sasuke said, staring at the unidentified target. He was at least fifteen meters away from Naruto and a good ten meters from Sakura.

"Me too." Sakura added in as she was facing north. She caught Sasuke and Naruto's eye and nodded her head.

"Okay. Go!" Kakashi commanded.

The young soldiers jumped from their spots and went after the target. Naruto, who was closer to the target managed to grab the target and heard hissing and saw incoming paws out to scratch him. He quickly pulled away and groaned. The cat began to meow and hiss at Naruto while continuing to attempt scratch his face, getting a few accurate jabs. "Ah! Stupid cat!"

Sakura giggled and took the cat from Naruto. "It's not that bad. She's seems nice." The cat instantly stopped hissing and meowing and started to purr at the touch of Sakura, rubbing her head against her.

"Does it have a ribbon on its right ear? Is it our target, Tora?"

"It's our target for sure." Sasuke replied.

"Okay. Operation Capture Tora the Lost Pet complete." Kakashi finalized as he shunshin to his team. "We have to take it back to the Fire Daimyo's wife."

Naruto smirked and placed his hands behind his back. "Can we do better missions? All we have been doing is going around the village and cleaning or picking up stuff from fields."

Kakashi looked back at Naruto and smiled. "You still need experience to perform any higher missions."

"Well shouldn't doing higher missions give us that experience?" Sakura questioned as she looked at her sensei for a response.

"I agree. The village missions don't help us much." Sasuke said calmly as they neared the academy.

Kakashi looked at his team amused before smiling under his mask. _Seems like they are working together better than I anticipated. Maybe they will have a C rank mission. _"How about we have one more D rank mission and I'll ask the Hokage for a C rank?"

The team stopped and looked at each other. Sakura seemed a little nervous but nodded her head with the cat still in her arms. Both Naruto and Sasuke gave a slight nodded before Naruto spoke for them, well more like yelled for them. "Deal. But you have to teach us something! It wouldn't be fair if we a mission outside the village and we seemed weak. You owe that much anyways! I already have enough training in the physical department."

Kakashi grabbed the bridge of his nose and sighed. "Alright. Let's give out report and get another mission. Afterwards, we will see what you guys need training in."

The team seemed content with that and hurried along the road to the academy. Outside the door was a woman clad in purple. Her lips were coated with a dark shade of pink with her eye shadowed with purple. She was a big woman with many type of flashy jewelry on herself, not hiding the fact of her social status.

She looked up and saw Team Kakashi and ran towards Sakura, snatching the cat that was settled in her arms. "Oh, my cute Tora-chan!" She cooed as she began to press the cat onto herself. Tora instantly began to hiss and cry in annoyance. "I was so worried about you!"

"No wonder the cat left." Naruto commented quietly to his teammates as he looked at the cat in pity. They smiled in response and walked in together, hiding their smiles from the Hokage.

"Thank you Kakashi for finding my little Tora-chan." She smiled before walking ahead and paying for the mission. The genin ignored the fact that she thanked their sensei while he sat on his ass and more likely read his book while they were the ones that went after the cat and caught her.

Team Kakashi stepped forward in the academy room to see a large long white table in which the Hokage and fellow other shinobi sat next to them, working diligently. Minato looked up and smiled as he saw the team. He got a small scroll with C written in green all over and began looking through. "Say, how did it go team?"

"Boring!" Sakura and Naruto said tiredly. Sakura flinched from her comment and blushed, giving a small smile for her outburst. Sasuke cracked a smile and shook his at the child like behavior of his teammates.

Minato chuckled and shook his head. "Kakashi's seventh unit's next mission is, babysit Yojyu-sama's son, grocery shopping at the neighboring town, or help dig up potatoes from the local farm."

"No more potatoes! We have already picked that up along with litter from the village!" Naruto complained.

"Naruto" Kakashi warned. His visible eye narrowed and a dark gleam entering, meaning that he was serious.

"I know." Naruto slumped his shoulder and looked at his team in defeat.

"We'll babysit Yojyu-sama's son." Kakashi chose as he team stared at him in wide eyes. He smirked under his masked and almost laughed at their faces but wouldn't want to do so, especially not in front of his sensei.

Naruto and Sasuke groaned as Sakura looked at them in confusion. Kakashi and Minato shared a knowing look before having a big grin. "You're sure your team can handle him? I hear that he is a trouble maker."

Naruto looked up at the comment before pointing a finger at his dad. "We can do it! I spent most of my time taking care of Kiyo-chan! I can handle a little kid." He stated a little insulted.

Sasuke placed his hand on his forehead and began to mutter under his breath. _Gosh Naruto. Didn't we suffer enough from taking care of our own little siblings?_

Sakura gave a bright smile at the mission. She was in a position that she felt comfortable in the mission. _I can finally show Naruto-kun and Sasuke-kun that I am not that useless. Afterwards I can even ask Kakashi-sensei if he could help me with learning some things I found in a few books. _"What's the boy's name?"

"His name is Katsuro. Yojyu is in Suna with a meeting with their council and Kazekage. Yojyu won't be back until later today or tomorrow at the latest." Minato read as he put the scroll down. "You'll take care of him until he arrives or his wife does. They might have hired a nanny but Yojyu-sama wanted his son in capable hands so this missions will be easy with the nanny's help."

The team bowed to the Hokage and left to Yojyu's house. They jumped on the rooftop and ran in silence until Sakura spoke up from curiosity. "Sensei, do you have any experience with children?"

Kakashi visible eye gleamed and he looked at Naruto. "I babysat Naruto once. Let's say it wasn't the easiest mission I was given."

Naruto blushed in embarrassment and chuckled. "I wasn't that bad!" Kakashi raised his eyebrow and return his gaze forward.

Sasuke smirked and looked at the blonde as he had an annoyed look on his face and Sakura a big smile. They arrived at the house and looked at the size. It was a long traditional house with blue roof shingles and the wall were beige. The doors were a light tint of brown and nice garden in the front.

"Who's taking care of him right now, Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked worriedly as she walked further ahead to the sliding door.

"Probably a house maid but since Yojyu is a fellow noble, and we have to take care of his son in case any danger could present itself."

"Shouldn't it then be a C rank mission?" Sasuke questioned as he followed Sakura.

"No. There is no promise of combat what so ever. Come on." He opened the sliding door and waited for the team to go in.

They sighed annoyed and walked inside to only stop when they saw the mess before them. Wailing could be heard as you walked inside into the hall. The floor was littered with toys and torn pieces of paper. Sakura took a step forward to only slip back and be caught by Naruto. "What happened here?"

"Are you the hired ninja to take care of Katsuro-san?" A large woman exclaimed. She had short crop brown hair that went to her shoulder and a pin that held the right side of her hair in place. She wore a casual yukata in a light hue of blue. A darker shade of midnight blue was the color of her obi that was tied tightly that was allowed, accenting her big curves.

The team nodded and waited for their sensei to speak. The woman seemed to have trouble keeping a little boy in her arms. He kept squirming away and throwing his feet in the air which the woman would only switch the boy to the other side. "Yes, we were given the task to take care of Katsuro-san."

"Here. Since Yojyu-sama left and lady of the house, the boy has been fussy. I'll take my leave and you handle him for the rest of the day." She huffed and quickly placed the boy on the ground with his toys. It only angered the little boy who stood up and went to the living room with the stares of everybody else following him. The nanny glared at the boy and went to her bag, checking if she didn't leave anything behind.

"Wait, Minato-sensei said that we would be babysitti-"

"I'll take my leave." The woman interrupted as she walked pass the opened mouth genin, gracefully avoiding to step on the mess scattered on the floor and went out the house before the genin can think of a response. Did the lady really brush away what Kakashi say? The woman did indeed and she had every reason too. When those who commented on Katsuro being a troublemaker only knew how he was to an extent. The rumors were that Yojyu would always have to hire a new nanny to take care of his son which he would drive away was just the beginning. It was first thought that Yojyu didn't like the work of the nanny but once there was a large number of unemployed nannie from Yojyu, it was then revealed the true reason of the boy.

Before any could sigh or complain, the door was slid open rather forcefully to reveal the woman that brushed them off rudely. "I forgot to say that Katsuro-san must be washed, perhaps might need a diaper change, will need someone to play with and a nap at three o'clock. Don't feed him a snack before the nap which would only lead to him to stay awake. That seems to be all." She left again and Naruto couldn't help to groan in frustrations.

"Come on! I thought we were to supposed to take care of him but with her to supervise us!" Naruto stated, viewing the toys that were scattered all over the floor.

"He's just a little boy Naruto-kun. What's the worst he can do?" Sakura reassured with a big smile.

Naruto frowned and Sasuke did the same as their female teammate made her way to the little boy. He noticed her make a move and looked up to show his wide brown eyes.

"Hey there little one." She said softly. Katsuro turn his head slightly to the right and gaze at her attentively, raising his small hand to her face. Sakura smiled at the kid and did not move, making sure not to scare the child as the male of her team watched with curiosity.

He moved his hand to the left and pulled on the long lock of her hair, hard. Sakura, like everybody else in the room did, widened their eyes in shock and watch as he dragged her to his toys. "Play." He commanded with a single word.

Inner Sakura couldn't handle it and began to curse aloud. **Gah! What is wrong with this child! Was he not raised right! How dare he pull my hair and then drag me with him! I need to teach him a lesson! **She said fuming, cracking her knuckles and eyeing the three year old like a prey. **Boys are not supposed to pull on a girl's hair! Especially not a girl who is a ninja!**

The real Sakura looked at her team and gave them a cheerful smile. "It's okay. I'll play with him for a little bit before taking him up for that shower. Hmm... Maybe I should take him for that diaper change." She said, scrunching her nose in disgust.

The boys flinched and looked after Sakura as she grabbed the boy's arm and headed down the hall. The two genin looked at Kakashi and gave him a deadpan look.

"What?" Kakashi said almost defensively. The genin didn't answer and Naruto muttered something under his breath.

"Let's clean this place up. I think Sakura might go ahead and give the boy a shower and we can clean the mess the little boy made." Sasuke grunted and made his way the mess.

"Kakashi-sensei, as the adult, you should supervise Sakura. She might be a girl, but we don't know if he might get 'fussy' and Sakura-chan might not handle him. Also, you have more experience with children then the three of us." Naruto suggested smugly.

Kakashi looked at Naruto with no expression and walked to where Sakura left. Naruto sighed when he left and looked at Sasuke. "I can have this room cleaned in no more than ten minutes." Naruto perform his favorite jutsu and about 15 Naruto's appeared.

Sasuke looked at them amused and walked off to the corner to seem to be the little's boy corner to play. He began to pick up the toys while the rest of the house began to shake of the movements of the Narutos.

"Don't try to destroy the house dobe." Sasuke said as he stood up to see the trash on the ground cleaned.

The Narutos stopped and looked at Sasuke sheepishly. They all laughed together and stopped when they hear a bloody scream come from the bathroom. Naruto dispelled his jutsu and ran to the source of the sound, with Sasuke behind.

The opened the door wide opened to see Kakashi drenched yet his hair was still defying the force of gravity with an expressionless look. Sakura was kneeled the bathtub and trying to control the infant while trying to control her laugher that would getting louder to only be stop by covering her mouth. Naruto eased the silence with his own laugh and Sasuke joined in along with Sakura.

Kakashi stood perfectly still, ignoring the laughter of his students with his hands still in front of him with his favorite limited edition of Icha Icha Paradise, signed by the great Legendary Sanin with a note made for him when he went to Naruto's 12 birthday party, all wet and the ink of the book starting to smear. _Damn Katsuro! I did nothing to the child yet he wet me and not Sakura! I might never know what will happen to Yuuto and Reina! They finally got together! It even seemed like Ryouta was giving them space and hooking up with Reina's sister. _

He was brought back to reality when Naruto slapped his knee and his laughter began to subdue. Kakashi gave a last glance at his students and to his book. He gasped and jumped out the window to put his beloved book in the sun.

"He so had that coming!" Naruto said as he sobered up.

Sasuke gave a small smile and turned to Sakura. "What happened to Kakashi-sensei besides him getting wet?"

"Katsuro wanted Kakashi-sensei to bring him some toys in the tub, and he said no. he told him that showering is to get clean and not to play. Katsuro then got mad and reach for a cup and chucked water and Kakashi when he was reading his book." Sakura explained as she got the boy out of the tub and wrapped in his a fluffy white towel and threw him over her shoulder and walked to his room where she managed to see some clothing.

The boys followed her and she sat the boy down on his bed. She went to his dresser and took out a green shirt with matching brown pants. She quickly changed him and put on his sneakers. Once those were on, little Katsuro dashed out of the room.

"Play with Katsuro while I see if there is something we can feed Katsuro. He said that he was hungry when I was changing him. I won't be long." She commanded as the left the boys in the room.

"What will we play with him? I saw that he had some action figures and a doll of Princess Fuun from the movie." Naruto asked as they walked up to the boy. "We can play with the dolls of his for a while."

"I will not play dolls with the boy." Sasuke answered with a stoic look. He was an Uchiha for Kami's sake! The y never played with dolls, even if you called them action figures because they were still dolls. They would play with something more realistic and manlier than long haired dolls.

Naruto ignored him and handed him the doll of Princess Fuun and began to play with Katsuro. "Oh look over there, it's Princess Fuun!"

"Princess Fuun!" Katsuro said delighted as he held an action figure of a built man who protected her from the evil samurai.

"I will attack you both and kill you!" Naruto said as he made the action figured that was an ancient samurai walk. He nudge Sasuke, who was staring at the doll in his hands and motioned him to move.

Sasuke didn't answer and stared at the two with no expression. He looked at the boy read, and noticed how impatience he was getting. "Go!" He whined.

Sasuke sighed and placed the doll on the ground and made her walk to them. "I will stop you." He stated in his monotone voice. Naruto stopped and gave him a look that probably read, _Dude, who are you trying to fool? You not even fooling the brat. _

"No."

"You didn't even give it a good try! You just said, 'I will stop you'" He imitated Naruto and even made the look Sasuke did when he was bored. Sasuke continued to stare silently at Naruto and sighed.

"I will try to stop you and make sure you don't hurt anyone!" Sasuke said in a somewhat pitchy voice. It made his throat feel funny and decided to just talk softer and maybe it would be okay.

Naruto laid down and began to laugh. "What the hell was that? It sounded like Tora being strangled by the Daimyo's wife!"

"Fine. Then you be Princess Fuun." Sasuke chucked the doll to Naruto.

"No way! I am the evil samurai that cause terror to the villages. I am the renowned killer that was never caught. I've killed over a million of people. The man that names itself is enough to kill those who faced him." He narrated and stopped to add suspense. "I am…"

"Who are you baka?" Sasuke asked as he noticed Naruto was waiting for him to ask.

"Sasuke, the teme of the land!"

Katsuro found it funny, though he did not know most of the words Naruto said but the express Sasuke had was enough to make him laugh. Sasuke only did one thing he could think off, without getting in trouble for damaging the house. He punched him. Hard.

_Gosh, this is going to be a long day. Kakashi-sensei seems too busy to do anything. _Sasuke thought sadly as Naruto began to cry out in pain.

* * *

Sakura managed to get Katsuro asleep with no help from Kakashi or either of her teammates and smiled at her work. He was peacefully sleeping on his bed. She glared at her sensei for the lack of help and went to go see her teammates in the living room. She hoped that Naruto wasn't too upset with Sasuke but hoped that going to train would make him happier, to let of some steam.

She walked down the hallway and noticed how silent it was. She narrowed her eyes and look in the living room. Sasuke was on the couch sitting with a bored expression and Naruto sat on the ground and seemed to be mediating with a slight purplish bruise under his eye.

"Naruto-kun, Sasuke-kun, what are you guys doing?"

"Thinking."

Naruto opened his eyes and looked at Sakura, "I was mediating. I saw kaasan do it so I thought I might give it a try. I have to admit, that it's not that hard. Very relaxing."

"Naruto-san!" A voiced called.

Naruto instantly flinched and look at the direction of the door. The woman had bright shining brown eyes and wore a long dress that matched the color of her hair, a bright orange shade.

"Naruto-san, I didn't think that Hokage-sama would give _you_ a mission to take care of my son. My apologies! I know how bad he can be." The woman said, bowing to Naruto and shaking her head. "It's my husband idea to spoil our only son."

Naruto scratched the back of his awkwardly and gave half a smile. "It's okay. I mean, sure he was troublesome but it's not like you can't change that. He still is young."

"Yes. I will speak to Yojyu about this. I can see that Aoi left. Hm… I will have to speak to her afterwards. Please, stay for dinner. I insist for the troubles you might have had with my son."

Naruto looked at his team for help and saw them shrug their shoulders. "I am sorry to have to refuse that invitation but team seven has some training to do. They must work on their chakra control." Kakashi spoke, appearing out of thin air.

Naruto stopped at looked at his sensei to see if he was lying. _ Oh come on! I already did that! Probably kaasan put him up to that because of yesterday. Well, it's better than having dinner with her._

"Sorry ma'am."

"Let's go team seven. To the training field." Kakashi ordered as he disappeared in a puff of smoke. His genin groaned and ran out to meet their sensei.


	7. Enter Tazuna, the Bridge Builder!

**AN: I am the worse! I have not updated as frequently as I planned. I apologize and I hope that I have not lost any readers. School has been a b**ch with all the work given. I hope you can forgive and like the chapter. The Land of Waves Arc started and things will start to get more interesting now. Note, this chapter has yet to be edited. The edited version might be in my e-mail but I can't find it. So, it will be likely that there will be mistakes. Sorry for that in advance. So, hope you enjoy this! **

Disclaimer: I DO NOT own Naruto. If I did, the war going on would had have more action and more information on the Maadara and Hashirama.

* * *

Chapter Seven: Enter Tazuna, the Bridge Builder! 

Naruto glared at their sensei and began to mumble incoherently under his breath. "Lazy sensei, not wanting to teach us something besides chakra control. He was just too upset about his stupid book."

Sakura, who was besides Naruto, nodded her head in agreement. She really wanted to learn some of the jutsus she found in book but she knew more than the other two that it would be more beneficial to learn how to control your chakra. She was lucky enough to be able to walk up the tree the first time along with Naruto but the sad part was that she had to stay there and continue to climb up the tree to build up her reserve. Naruto was better than she thought as he began water walking and mastered it before heading home.

Sasuke was beyond pissed that his teammates knew tree walking and mastered it before him. When he began to train with Sakura, she would had it a bit easier because like Kakashi mentioned, it would be more difficult for him and Naruto to master it because they had larger reserves. Though he did not master it, not reaching the top of the tree, he did not give up so easily. The Uchiha prodigy then went home after the afternoon of training and began to do it at home. Lucky for him, Itachi came home from a mission and was able to give him a few pointers which made him reach farther up the tree. Now, they played the waiting game.

Team Seven went to their meeting spot and waited for their sensei. They were at small wooden bridge, glancing at the small creek running through. They knew how late he would be and it made them realize even more that they can't be like their sensei when being on time is key to be a shinobi, according to Iruka who lectured them endlessly. It didn't help that they were all anxious since they knew that they would have a C mission and they just wanted to start and maybe leave the village.

"Yo!" Kakashi said as he materialized in front of his students, on the railing of the bridge.

"You are late sensei!" Sakura and Naruto complained as they gave him a dark glare. Sasuke looked up to only glare at him too, the glare of the legendary Uchihas.

_Maybe I shouldn't give them one of my lame excuses…Well…we'll see how it goes. _ "I was stuck on the road of life." He said calmly, waiting for a response.

His genin just stared at him with a blank face, waiting for him to add on to it but got nothing in return. Kakashi didn't say anything else and they sighed in annoyance.

"Kakashi-sensei, let's go get our mission! Don't make our training be a waste!" Naruto perked up and began to pull on Kakashi's arm, leading him off. He wouldn't want to stay moping when he wanted to kick ninja butt. Especially now that he had a wind jutsu he mastered and he couldn't wait to show it off to his team. Sasuke was not the only one that knew ninjutsu.

Sasuke and Sakura trailed off behind them with their own pleasant smile. Naruto was radiating eagerness and they felt that but he was also a bit nervous too, though, he would never say it aloud. They were both a bit tense but Sakura was worried whether or not if they would make it. She never doubted the strength of Naruto and Sasuke but she wasn't sure if it was going to be an okay mission. She only had learned one jutsu and yet still managed to feel like dead weight. She sighed in sadness and hurried along to catch up to Naruto and Kakashi.

At the speed Naruto was dragging his sensei, they arrived in the academy in no time and a grin appeared as he let go of his arm and dashed right through to the room. "Tousan! We are here for our C rank mission!"

Minato was talking to some of the chunins with him and looked up to hear Naruto's loud proclamation. Kakashi came to his side and shook his head tiredly at his student, muttering something about his loudness.

"Do you think they are ready?" He asked, viewing the team with a scrutinizing stare.

"Of course we are!" Naruto spoke before Kakashi. Kakashi looked at him and smack his head. "Ow!" Naruto rubbed his head before shoving his hands in his pocket, ignoring the amused smiled his dad had.

"Yes, the team is now ready. They show great skills and cooperation. I am sure they can handle it." Kakashi said, regarding his student with a look.

Minato smiled kindly and began looking for a mission that was easy from the scroll. "Aa." He said, pleased with a mission he found. "Iruka, please tell Tazuna to come forth."

"Yes Hokage-sama." Iruka quickly left and brought back an angry man who was cursing loudly. Minato looked back at him with a steady stare and he instantly closed his mouth.

"Your mission is to escort Tazuna back to his home, to the Land of Waves, and watch over him as he finishes his bridge to the main land." Minato explained as he return to look at the genin team.

"So I get a blonde midget, an emo boy and a girl as an escort." The man stated with a hint of annoyance as he stared at the pinkette, the raven haired boy and the loud one. He took a swig of his sake and stared at the team. "They are nothing but children."

Naruto glared at him, ready to give a piece of his mind but caught the steady stare of his dad. Naruto looked resigned and looked away._ Stupid old man! _His teammates had the same thought in mind as they were insulted by the man they were supposed to protect.

"That is up to dispute Tazuna. They are a special team for the purpose for anterior assault and with the proper training, they will be the strongest shinobi in Konohagakure. I am a jonin and they are genin now, but rest assured that you will be safe despite how you say ,'they are children.'" Kakashi stated, receiving looks of disbelief from his pupils.

_Did he really compliment us? _They all thought before smiling proudly. Sasuke had a small smile but it was a smile either way even if end of his lips twitched up.

"We'll see." Tazuna said taking another drink of his sake. He was grey-haired with a large beard and dark eyes. He wore a sleeveless V-neck shirt with an obi, dark pants. He also carried a towel around his neck and wore a pointed hat on his head that Naruto thought looked stupid but decided not comment about it in front of his dad.

Naruto's mood soured with Tazuna's comment, ruining the once in a life time compliment from his sensei and decided to direct his anger to him. Sasuke decided to do the same but also was annoyed from the comment of him being emo. Sasuke Uchiha did not consider himself emo. He just wanted to play the professional role when taking a mission, knowing that Naruto and Sakura would handle the rest.

The temperature in the room fell and all eyes were casted on the boys who still upset with Tazuna. Sasuke and Naruto glared at the man with slight killer intent. Most of the adults in the room already knew that it was going to be a long trip for Kakashi but wondered if it was Kami's way of doing them a favor for him being late.

"You are dismissed." Minato said, breaking the silence with the voice of authority. He smiled at them and winked at Naruto before looking down at his paperwork.

They nodded their head and walked out, Naruto and Sasuke purposely avoiding the bridge builder. They were in complete silence as the headed the team's meeting place but stopped. "Team, let's meet at the front gate in an hour. Make sure you should pack for two weeks."

"Hai!" They said before they all disappeared in their separate ways, leaving Tazuna deserted in the village street. The man sighed and took another drink from his bottle.

* * *

Naruto almost instantly arrived to his house and began to wonder if his mom was out. He doubted that she would stay inside house because she always kept herself moving. He walked past the gates and heard waves crashing. He smiled, knowing that she was probably training out back and ran to find her.

"Kaasan!" He called out to her and saw a huge dragon made out of water, something he seen his mom do against Mizuki. He watched amazed as he saw the long dragon rise up in the air and was dispelled, to have water droplets fall on the ground slowly. Kushina smiled and turned to her son.

"Hey Naruto. I thought you would be doing a mission right now." Kushina said as she followed Naruto inside the house and up to his room, not needing to know that he wanted her to follow him.

"I am kaasan but Kakashi-sensei says to pack for two weeks. We are protecting a bridge builder named Tazuna. He lives in the Land of Waves and we will watch over him until he finishes the bridge." Naruto explained as he grabbed one of his backpack and began grabbing his new clothes into his bag.

"In that case, let me help you Naruto. You want to pack some fresh clothes more importantly, toiletry, soldier's pills, some medical supplies in case someone gets hurt, and food ration. Make sure you have all of your kunai and shurikens." Kushina listed as she sat on the foot of his bed.

"That all won't fit in my bag." He said, looking at his bag in disappointment. He placed in hands on his waist and stared at the bag in wonder.

"You can finally use the storage seals I gave you for your last birthday and place most of your heavy things there." Kushina said as Naruto nodded his head and went to his desk. He pulled out a scroll and began to put in the kanji letters with his paint brush. He smiled and went to get the things that wouldn't fit in his back and placed on top of the opened scroll. It glowed light green and everything on top disappeared.

"You finish up here while I get something for you. Okay?" Kushina quickly went down the hall to one of the closets and began to take a few things the team would need. She didn't want to her son to be cold or Sasuke either so she got out some blankets, an extra first aid kit, and few extra things such as snacks. She sealed everything up in two scrolls, one for Naruto and the other for Sasuke and handed it to her son. "One's for you and the other is for Sasuke."

Naruto shrugged and made sure that he had everything he needed. He checked his pouches and made sure he had his sharpened weapons ready. Content, he put his backpack on and went downstairs with his mom not a step behind. "Um…kaasan…. I was wondering if could eat some ramen before I leave. I will be gone and I _really_ want some ramen before I go." _And it's not like I could sneak some instant ramen into the scroll with you in my room._ He continued the rest in his head. He braced himself for a flat out no, followed by another lecture of how unhealthy it was to eat too much.

"Alright. Let's go."

Naruto stopped and stared at his mom in shock. He couldn't believe his luck! He got complimented by his sensei, which was very rare since he would only talk about the mission and occasionally make fun of him when he was younger and now he was allowed to eat ramen without the fear for getting caught!

"Let's go!" He cheered as he pulled on her hand and hurriedly made his way to his favorite ramen shop.

They were warmly welcomed and served their food quickly. It seemed like they expected Naruto, guessing what he would order, which made Kushina a little suspicious. She ignored it and began to eat her first bowl while Naruto manage to put away five bowls in their sitting.

"Naruto, at what time do you have to you have to meet your team?" She questioned as she glanced at her watch. It was a quarter to ten.

"At ten, but knowing Kakashi-sensei, he will get there at one." Naruto said, slurping the last bit of noodles.

"Just because he is late, it doesn't mean you have to be late as well. Go, shoo! I'll get him there." Kushina said mischievously, marching out of the ramen stand, cracking her knuckles with a sly smirk.

Naruto beamed and took out some of his allowance money and paid for both meals and headed out in a run. He saw the Konoha's entrance and saw his teammates talking pleasantly to each other and Tazuna off in the corner, mumbling something.

"Hey old man, Sakura-chan, teme." He greeted with her arms behind his head.

Sasuke nodded at him and Sakura stared at him. She looked at him head to toe and couldn't believe herself. She pinched herself and still saw it. Naruto was a carbon copy of the Yondaime!

She knew that they looked very similar but he wore similar clothing like he did making him his double, only shorter. He wore a short sleeved black shirt with a mesh underneath and a white jacket over the shirt. It was zipped up half way and on the bottom of the white jacket, there were red flames. In the cuffs, there was Uzumaki symbols hidden within the ends and to top it all, Naruto wore necklace of the Namikaze Clan symbol which he earned after the certification of being genin. He wore black standard pants with bandage on his right thigh with his regular shinobi sandals.

"Sakura?" Naruto waved his hand of Sakura, wondering why she was spacing out. It seemed like she was staring at him but he didn't know. "Whatcha staring at?" His face was inches from her as he stared at her in wonder.

She jumped at the sound of his voice and blushed, moving to stand next to Sasuke. "Nothing! I thought I saw something behind you!"

"Okay. Oi! Teme, before I forget, kaasan wants me to give you this. I think there's some things packed in here." Naruto said pulling out a scroll his mom gave him earlier.

Sasuke nodded his head and pulled out a cup of instant ramen, handing it to Naruto's greedy hands. "Kaasan knew that Kushina-oba wouldn't let you pack ramen so she said you can have _one_." Sasuke got the scroll and placed it his pack, wondering if his godmother packed some of his favorite things.

"Oh yeah! Mikoto-oba is awesome!" Naruto cheered, quickly hiding it in his own bag.

"Don't be so loud brat! I have a hangover and I don't want to hear you shout!" Tazuna snapped, almost ruining Naruto's mood. Again.

"Hey, it's not my fault you decided to drink yesterday and today too!" Naruto talked back, glaring at him.

"Blondie, watch it!" He threatened.

Naruto didn't respond and continued to have a stare down with Tazuna.

"Naruto, don't threaten the client we were hired to take care." A bored voice said.

They recognized the voice and whipped their heads to see their sensei. The mouths were almost to the ground. He was on time!

"WHAT!" They said in unison.

Kakashi sighed. Was he really that bad? He pushed that out of his head and watched as Kushina brush passed him to say bye to Naruto and Sasuke, even Sakura, giving them all a hug.

"You guys all be careful okay? Don't be fooling around, Naruto. Sasuke, don't be too worrisome. Sakura, I want you to put these two in line." Kushina said, pinching Sasuke's cheek. Gosh, did she really like to embarrass the Uchiha boy. It was almost as fun as making fun of Itachi, especially now that he was a feared powerful shinobi.

"Stop Kushina-oba." Sasuke complained childishly as he had a small blush. He averted his eyes from his godmother and stared the ground, hearing the giggles from Naruto and Sakura. Kakashi was probably just amused watching.

"Alright Sasuke. Good luck." Kushina said, giving them all another hug, even pinching Kakashi's cheek too. "Be careful. Watch over them _all_." She muttered into Kakashi's ear before disappearing with a trail of leaves.

Kakashi cleared his throat and looked at everyone. They were all ready to the walk ahead for the long journey. "Let's go team."

Naruto gave thumbs up to them and began to walk out the gates, feeling the breeze ruffle his hair. He really did miss going out of the village for his family trip. Sadly, they did not go this summer to another country because his dad had a meeting with Daimyo and it was not like he could reschedule so they decided to camp outside within the village outskirt. It truly was something fun to be camping in the unknown forest.

"Hmp, he usually so loud, it's a miracle he can shut up." Tazuna whispered to himself, walking along with the rest of the team.

"Shut up old geezer!" He retorted. "You are lucky that I want to be Hokage and I have to work my way up there or I would have done something I wanted to do since you insulted my team!"

"Hokage is the strongest shinobi in the village right?' He turned for Kakashi for affirmation and looked back to the kid. "I doubt that will happen."

He glared at him and took a deep breath before speaking calmly. "I _will_ become Hokage like my dad and protect everyone in my village. You are just going to have to believe it when it happens."

Tazuna smirked but continued to walk with tension in the air. Neither of them spoke as the got farther from the village, walking past creaks and many trees.

"Hey, Tazuna-san." Sakura began, wanting to lighten the tension between Naruto and Tazuna.

"Yes, what is?"

"You are from the Country of the Waves, right?"

"Yes."

"Well, Kakashi-sensei, are there also ninja in that country?" She asked, wondering why he had to hire Leaf ninjas. It was not like she didn't mind but she was curious.

"No. There are no ninja in the Country of the Waves. They did before but it was called another name. Before it was Uzu no Kuni with the ninja village Uzushiogakure no Sato but with the destruction of Uzushiogakure, they had to renamed its country Nami no Kuni and remained to have no ninja village when they don't need to. They are in a position where it is difficult to be influenced." Naruto answered instead as he yawned.

"Wow, how did you know that?" Sakura asked impressed.

"Well I've gone to visit where my mom's clan was, Uzushiogakure, without knowing. I never knew what it was called that until she told me about her clan and the war. The rest is based on the things we learned in class. I just pieced them together." He replied.

"So there's no worries for foreign ninjas to attack us if there's no ninja where Tazuna-san is." She concluded happily. She wasn't sure if they, well more like _she_ were ready for battle. She learned one jutsu but was not sure when she would be able to use it.

"Of course. It's only a C rank mission too." Kakashi smiled, ruffling Sakura's hair. She smiled and they continued on their way, not noticing guilt washing over Tazuna. "Let's keep on walking. We have a long way to go still." He reminded as he walked behind them, hearing the chirping of birds.

They were walking in silence and Naruto and Sasuke tensed up and continued to walk. Kakashi noticed them and looked to the side to see a puddle of water. _Good, they noticed._ He thought as both boys casual put their hands in their pocket, near their weapons.

From the puddle of water on the ground, two men appeared and charged at Kakashi, one jumping over the other with metal gauntlet with their chain out. Both of them threw their shuriken chain and wrapped it around Kakashi and pulled on it, cutting him to pieces.

"First one gone." Said one of the attackers. He had shoulder-length, wild dark-brown hair and dark eyes. He wore a rebreather that covers the lower half of his face and a large poisonous gauntlet on his right arm.

"Now it's your turn." Said the other ninja that looked similar to his brother except that he had his gauntlet on his left arm and went to attack Naruto who quickly went to protect Tazuna along with Sakura.

Sakura gasped and watched as the boys threw their chains to wrap around Naruto. Sasuke responded faster as Naruto had his back to the enemy, assuring the old man that he was going to be safe, and quickly got his shuriken and kunai and precisely made the point go to the middle of his kunai that held the chain stuck to the tree.

Naruto cursed and looked as the ninja's pull it out of the tree, the chain breaking. "Ranboukazenenten!" He finished his hand sign and spun three times, sending a huge burst of wind at the enemy who tried to avoid it but failed. He sent them to the trees unconscious when they barely made a move at them. Sasuke smirked and turned his head to see them lying on the ground. One of them turned into a log and reappeared, already charging at Tazuna with his metal claws with poison. Sakura positioned herself to protect Tazuna with a kunai and felt her arms begin to tremble slightly.

_Substitutions!_ Sasuke thought as he jumped in front of Sakura with his kunai each on a finger, ready to be thrown. He waited for him hurl his chain at him and noticed it didn't happen. Kakashi stood behind him and placed to fingers on neck and his head dropped.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura screamed happily, seeing that her sensei was okay.

Naruto finished tying one of the attackers to a tree and noticed Kakashi held the other. He glanced at Sakura and saw appreciation in her green eyes.

_He did nothing and she staring at him like he saved her life! The teme and I protected her! _He thought as she gushed about how cool their sensei was. Sasuke and Naruto sweat dropped and sighed deeply.

"Good job team. You responded well." He praised and threw the kid next to the other. Naruto went over and tied him up next to his partner. He stood up as stared at the guys that attacked them. He looked at Sakura and saw Sasuke give him a nod. Naruto smirked at the work of his jutsu and wondered if he could learn any more of them.

_I'm saved…_ Tazuna realized as he saw the assailants was tied up by the boy.

"By the way Tazuna-san." Kakashi said.

"W-what is it?"

"I need to talk to you later." He spoke seriously before turning to look at the unconscious ninja tied to the tree. "These guys are chunin ninja from the Hidden Village of the Mist. They are ninjas known to keep fighting no matter the cost."

"Why did you let the kids fight them when you knew that?" Tazuna asked neutrality, already questioning if the jonin ninja knew what was happening.

"They weren't that smart to begin with. It hasn't rained for the past few days and it is sunny today, so a water puddle shouldn't exist. Naruto and Sasuke caught it. Besides, I needed to know who the target for these two was."

"What do you mean?" Tazuna asked.

"I wanted to know who they wanted to attack. It was clear that they were not bandits and I might have thought they would be ninjas trying to attack another village's ninja. Funny how they only wanted to separate my students from you." Kakashi said with no hint of humor in his voice. "In other words, they were after you. We have not heard anything about you being targeted by ninjas. Your request was to protect you from armed groups of bandits and gangs. This is a mission that's above a B rank. Our job was to support and guard you until you complete the bridge. With this mission being higher than C, that puts the team in danger with ninja as the enemy. You may your reason, but it only will give us more trouble if you lie in your request details. This was not part of the mission."

Sakura felt uncomfortable under the new circumstances of the mission. Naruto and Sasuke seemed that they might like how the mission is going but she still felt that maybe it would be too dangerous for the. "This mission seems a little out of our league." She spoke hesitantly.

"No, it's not." Naruto spoke aloud, offering a small smile to Tazuna who was sweating bullets. "We were given a mission to help the old man. Sure he lied to us but in the end, he probably has a good reason to. If he is in trouble, with more reasons we should help him. Besides, they might probe a good opportunity to see who is better, me or the teme."

Sasuke smirked and looked at Sakura and then to his sensei. "The mission is still on."

Kakashi smiled and gave a reassuring look to Sakura. "The team spoke so I guess we have no choice but to help you Tazuna-san."

Tazuna gasped and looked at the ninja group. Each of them had a look of determination and couldn't help to feel a little guilty for lying. He hoped that one day he would be able to repay them for keeping him safe.

OMAKE

Hide-and-Seek

"AH!" a little blonde boy cried bloody murder as he ran away from the back yard. His green hoody bounced at his movements as he dashed to the living room. He went to the corner of the room, jumping over the couch, sitting on floor with his legs pulled up. He wore a long sleeved green hoodie with a red swirl in the front along with khaki pants and white sneakers. He looked down and noticed his shoe untie. His eye widened and he began to tie his shoe.

"Naruto!" called a deep voice with humor in his voice as he walked after the little boy into the house. "I thought we were having fun!"

Naruto jumped at the sound of the voice and looked at the door he ran past through. _He's there!_ Naruto thought frantically. The man he ran from had waist-length spiky white hair tied back into a pony tail, with two shoulder-length bangs that framed both sides of his face. He also had red lines that ran down from his eyes and wore a horned forehead protector with the kanji for oil. He wore green kimono pants with his geta and was looking for his beloved godson.

Naruto looked back and closed his eyes for a minute to think. The three year old was scared to be caught by his godfather. He just wished that they could play something normal. They were having fun playing hide-and-seek but Jiraiya decided to tease the boy with something he had hated since the beginning.

"Gaki, come out now!" The man ordered, laughing when he heard silence. "Do you want to play hide-and-seek again? We can play right now."

"Really oji-chan?" He called out, jumping over the couch that was angled in front of the corner. His blue eyes looked up in excitement, waiting for an answer. He began to jump from excitement, tugging on his haori.

He chuckled and picked him up in his arms. "We'll play but outside. Kushina might get mad if we break something."

Naruto nodded his head and wrapped his small arms around his uncle neck. "You will be it!" He said in a warm voice and hugged his uncle.

"You really want me to find you don't you?" He teased with carefree laugh. He placed Naruto on the ground of his large backyard.

Naruto pouted and crossed his arms. "You cheat! I will beat you!"

"Beat me?"

"Yeah! Close your eyes!" Naruto commanded with a smile.

"Okay. I'll start counting. 1…..2…." Jiraiya began. Naruto giggled and ran to the trees nearby. He stopped and bended over to grab a rock. He looked back at Jiraiya and saw he had his hand covering his eyes so grin and threw the rock at the tree, making the leaves rustle.

He held a laugh and dashed to the side of the house, looking for a bush to hide in. Content, he carefully hid inside and tried to contain his life. _I got you oji-chan! You won't find me so easily like last time!" _He covered his hair with his hoodie and then the waiting game began.

Jiraiya stifled a yawn and smelled the air. "Alright gaki, I will find you!" Jiraiya yelled out enthusiastically. He uncovered his eyes and grinned evilly and walked to the tree he heard Naruto get into. Jiraiya loved to play with his student's son. It reminded him how his students were, though they never did play when they had training to do. The little ball of energy was something Jiraiya loved, especially when he got to spend quality time with him. He could help to laugh as he walked up the tree and moved the leaves. "Found y-" Jiraiya began but stopped when he opened his eyes.

_Where did he go?_ He mused with a small smile forming. It seemed like Naruto wanted to give him a challenge. Jiraiya smirked and began to walk around the back yard, pondering whether or not he should just go to him, he did sense his chakra after all. _Maybe I should let him think he got me stump. Kids like that._

Jiraiya smiled and walked to pond with koi fish and saw his reflection. _Who's that good looking man in there? It's the one and only Konoha's Legendary Pervert!_

He laughed loudly at his own remark which caused Naruto, who was hiding, to tense up. Naruto grumbled under his breath and felt his foot going numb. He wanted to straighten his foot but knew if he were too, he would get caught. _Awe man! I was going to win but my foot! _ Naruto rubbed his leg, wanting to have blood flow through his leg. His leg began to tremble for sitting on his leg too long and felt the lack of blood in his limp leg.

_I wonder if Naruto is going to give up now. He really is impatient, just like his mother._ Jiraiya walked slowly across the training field and turned the corner where he sense Naruto was at. He leaned against the wall and began to stare at the tree house Naruto got for his birthday this year and smirked. _We sure do spoil the gaki._

Naruto stole a glance at his godfather and found him engrossed at staring at what he thought was nothing. He smiled and began to stretch his leg, hoping that blood would continue to pass through and so quickly. As he leg was stretched in front of him, his foot brushed against the leaves and alarming an unexpected player of the game.

"Found you Naruto." Jiraiya said with a smirk as he manifested in front of him. Naruto pouted and Jiraiya burst into laughter. "I won gaki."

Naruto frowned and got up, attempted to walk away from. With his limp leg, he ran for a minute before he fell down, falling on his face. "Ump!"

Jiraiya booming laugh echoed through the backyard which made chibi Naruto to lift his head up to reveal his blue orbs full of tears. His bottom lip quivered as he looked away, placing one small hand to his cheek. The fall hurt his face and he could feel a layer of grime on his cheek.

He gently got up and patted his pants, not noticing the end of Jiraiya's laugh. He wiped a tear away and began walking to the house, the tears in the brink of falling in a downpour

"Gaki" called out Jiraiya as he walked to Naruto. "Let me see if you got any cuts on your face." Jiraiya got to Naruto and picked him up in his arms and gave him a small smile. "It's okay Naruto."

Naruto frowned a little and wiped his face with his hand and stared at him in silence. Jiraiya just stared at him and contained his laughter. Children were something new to him, especially now that Naruto knew what was happening. He could talk more than most toddlers and was very energetic. He wasn't surprised that Naruto was already showing traits from his parents. Considering who they are, Naruto is a blessed boy who will have incredible skills in the future, he just will need guidance.

"Let's go get some ice cream gaki." Jiraiya welcomed as he walked with Naruto to the village.

"Kaasan said I can't have too much candy before dinner." Naruto pouted a little with the thought.

"She doesn't have to know." Jiraiya brushed off. Naruto placed his hand on Jiraiya's cheek and give him a toothy grin.


End file.
